Fate: Who Kicked It and Made Him King?
by MountainDewIsDeadly
Summary: NoHBP LoTR xover later: Harry is depressed after OoTP, but something chages in the blink of an eye... LoTR starts as a fandom, but soon becomes much more...
1. Fate

**Detailed Summary**: In shock after his fifth year, Harry is taken to Order Headquarters. He just wants a normal life. Dumbledore tries to get him to open up a little. Sadly, he has his mothers temper, his fathers stubbornness, and his godfathers love of danger. Harry can't decide whether he should go with the flow, or try to dominate his own life. He grows closer still to his friends. In the fight for the Light, Harry Potter is determined to live his life.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own it. I don't even own a car. My parents technically still own my computer. It. Is. Not. Mine.

* * *

The loss of any human life is tragic. The loss of the life of a person you knew is, inevitably, worse. The loss of a person you had come to love and respect as a father is by all means, absolutely devastating. 

They say grieving happens in steps. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. It is common, human nature, most would say, to experience these things after the loss of a close loved one.

Harry James Potter was, of course, the exception to this rule.

He was in a state of… almost nothingness. He did not accept it, yet he did not deny it. He simply… ignored it. Almost as if sweeping the dust under the rug will make the dust disappear, not acknowledging his loss made it void.

Sitting in his bedroom, the smallest of Number Four privet Drive, he was blank. If only Snape tried to give him an occlumency lesson _now_. The greasy git would find a blank cloud that is the mind of Harry Potter.

His, Harry's, Uncle had told him that he was to stay in his room until the dinner guests left later that night. Harry recalled vividly how the man had fled at the blank, empty look his nephew had graciously bestowed upon him.

Harry was, since the night of the Department of Mysteries incident, totally… distant. He had become very good at hiding his emotions, and blocking his mind. A book he had stolen from the library at Hogwarts had helped, too.

Since he could remember, as a young child, Harry had known he was _different_. A freak. Unloved, belittled, bullied, ignored, and starved, Harry had never grown up knowing he was worthy of love. When it was so easily given to him by Sirius Black, he newly found innocent godfather, he had been greedy with it.

He had taken advantage of the fact that somebody loved, and cared for him. Days had gone by that he hadn't written to Sirius. _Days_! Those were days that Harry couldn't take back. He couldn't redo them. They were gone. All gone.

Like the spins of a Time Turner, so are the days of our lives… Spinning away from us.

Fate would not let that happen. Not to Harry James Potter. Never.

Fate is, as all mature people know, cruel. It has a tendancy totear a person apart, leaving them alone, abandoned, or worse, apathetic.

Fate made a decision the day Sirius was so cruelly ripped from the living.

Harry was going to live. One way or another, Fate wouldpound thelife into Harry. In fact, it came to that, eventually...

* * *

Short first chapter, I know. The second chapter is about seven pages longer. This was just too good of a place to stop, for me to pass it up. 

Review and make an author happy, will you? Suggestions, comments, flames, constructive criticism… It doesn't matter.

Can anybody tell I'm related to a _ton_ of "Days of our Lives" fans? No?

Until next time-

MountainDew-IsDeadly


	2. Healing

Discaimer: Not Mine. I never plan on owning Harry Potter. Ever.

* * *

Harry was shocked out of his street gazing by an owl suddenly flying into his face. He sighed. '_Ruddy owls,'_ he thought to himself, _'always somebody wanting to make sure that the hero child is alive.'_

He took the letter that had been attached to the leg of the large tawny owl. The owl hooted, stared at Harry for a second, then flew out the window again. It was from Dumbledore. Lovely. Just lovely.

_Harry,_

_I do hope that this letter finds you well. -_Harry tries not to tear the parchment up after reading that line alone- _I can not begin to imagine how you feel right now, Harry. I will tell you, Harry, that I had both of my parents well into my ninetieth year on Earth. They helped me through times that I needed them the most, as all parents do. They were my support. I do not know where I would be without them._

_I want you to have the same support that I had, Harry. That job was supposed to fall to Sirius. An old mans mistake, I know. You could not begin to imagine how I feel at this point. Your parents, James and Lily, were two of my favorite students. Lily was bright, talented, witty, kind, and extraordinarily vindictive at times, I must say. James was smart, kind, but yes, Harry, he was arrogant. Not in a bad way, though. I can tell you for certain that it was an act. A show. _

_Sirius himself was another story. A crazed, starved hippogriff wouldn't have kept that man away from the Department of Mysteries, Harry. He believed that his godson, his beloved godson, was in danger. The reincarnation of Merlin himself wouldn't have been able to stop him, Harry. He loved you. I ask that you let him continue to love you, from beyond the veil. Oh, that was an awful, unintended pun, I am sorry._

_Harry, we will be coming to get you tomorrow morning at six o'clock sharp. Please be ready to leave then. We will travel by Portkey. _

_Harry, if you listen to just one thing I say in this letter, please let it be that you are not guilty for the death of Sirius. He loved you. Do not lie, you would have done the same for him, and you and I both know it. Better him die _for_ you, than he die _by_ you, don't you think? _

Albus Dumbledore 

Harry reread the letter at least five times. He wasn't sure whether or not he could be angry with the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Had it been the mans fault? Not entirely. Had Dumbledore intended for the death of Sirius? Not likely. Had Harry blamed the man entirely? Yes.

Noticing that it was now dark outside, Harry stood from the chair by the window. He had been sitting on the stiff backed chair for almost four straight hours, and was slightly sore.

Walking to his bed, Harry caught sight of himself in the full length mirror that was on the inside of the door to his wardrobe.

He looked at sight, to be sure. His hair, usually sticking up in all directions, was now laying flat. It was about an inch long, but still black as ever. His face held a tight, pinched look. Almost as if his cheek bones had grown without alerting his skin.

Speaking of his skin, it looked pale, almost yellow in color. His once delicately pale face was too Snape-like for his well being. Then came his eyes. Once full of life, happiness, innocence, and joy, they were now dark, and mysterious.

His clothes, no longer the cast offs of Dudley, had fit him perfectly at the beginning of summer. They fell off of his bony shoulders now. He had to wear a belt to keep the pants on his hips, and not his ankles.

He sank wearily onto his lumpy bed, sighing contentedly. Tired and sore from a morning full of gardening and cleaning, his aching muscles reveled in the relaxed position they were now in.

He thought back to the events of little less than a month ago. He saw Sirius fall into the veil over and over again. It reminded him of the one time he had been allowed to go to the cinema, and the film was not working properly. It kept playing one shot over and over again. Of course, Vernon had blamed Harry, and had never allowed him to the cinema again.

Sirius mocking Bellatrix, the look of utter shock on Sirius face, then, no more Sirius. Ever again.

No! he wouldn't think like that! He _had_ to get passed it. It wouldn't help. It does not do to dwell on dreams, and forget to live! That was it.

Not working. Harry felt his resolves breaking. For the first time since he had lost his godfather over a month ago, Harry Potter cried. He cried himself to sleep.

* * *

Waking up the next morning, at five, Harry felt more alive than he had in the past month. He looked at the calendar and took note of the date. July thirty first. His sixteenth birthday. 

Noticing the mirror again, Harry nearly fell over in shock. He looked different than he had the night before! Not seven hours ago he had looked like hell warmed over! Now he was taller, almost the same height as Ron! His shoulders were broader, as well. His skin was back to its usually pale color, and it was almost healthy looking!

He got up and dressed, noticing that his clothes fit better, packed, and went down stairs. Nobody in the house was awake besides him. If it weren't for the inhuman snores echoing from upstairs, he would assume he was there alone.

Making himself toast, he sat at the kitchen window, watching the sun rise.

'_Ding_!' Who would be there at this hour, ringing a bloody doorbell? That only served to give him a headache, and cause an abnormality in the rhythmic snores. Honestly, it was like synchronized nasal passage blockage.

Harry opened the door, and found only one person one the other side. "Dumbledore?" he asked, not exactly meaning to sound as suspicious as he had. The man merely smiled sadly.

"Yes, Harry. '_Dumbledore_'." Harry just stared at him blankly for a few moments. Then his eyes narrowed.

"How do I know you're really Dumbledore?" Harry asked, eyeing the other person closely.

"How many other people do you know that are willing to dress in purple robes?" Dumbledore answered. Harry noticed, almost for the first time, that he was wearing vivid purple robes.

"True. But I would be more suspicious if you weren't wearing atrocious robes," Harry answered swiftly. "What was written across the top of the mirror of Erised?"

"Erised stra erhu oyt ube cafru oyt on woshi," Dumbledore said. Harry continued to eye him critically. That had defiantly been too broad of a question.

"How many turns?" Harry asked. The real Dumbledore would know that.

"Three," came the reply. Harry saw that 'Dumbledore' was looking over Harry's shoulder, and his eyes were wandering around the house. Harry moved out of the way of the door.

"Come on in then… Mad Eye." Harry nearly laughed when 'Dumbledore's' eyes widened in shock.

"How did you…?" he asked. Harry leaned forward and pulled him into the house by his robe.

"I was not lying when I said atrocious, Moody. Robes like that will get the whole street talking, _honestly_. This from the man that's all high n' mighty because he can practice constant vigilance," he said dully. Harry closed the door, only to see two Dumbledores in the hallway that lead to the kitchen when he turned around

Dumbledore, the real one, looked very happy, for some strange reason or another. "Well done, Harry. Alastor, I believe you owe me a bag of Lemon Drops. Are you ready to leave, Harry?" Dumbledore asked. Moody was himself again. The mans eye was spinning madly in his head, which creeped Harry out a bit.

"I will be if he stops doing that," Harry muttered, and began to walk up the stairs. In his room, Harry put his MP3 player in his pocket. He had stolen it from Dudley a few days before. He had found that listening to music made him less likely to lash out.

It also gave his blank stares a sort of rhythm.

Harry had spent hours trying to cope with Sirius' death back at Hogwarts. It didn't work so well. He'd set fire to the room of requirement. Twice. And they say that red heads have bad tempers…

In the end, Harry found it much easier to not acknowledge the incident, and hope it went away…

Remembering what he was supposed to be doing, Harry picked up his trunk and walked to the door of his room. He tripped when he got to the first stair. He fell down all thesteps, landing between two people. Hecursed vehemently, and picked himself up.

Bloody great, his arm was broken, and on top of that, the back of his head was pounding. He tensed the muscle around his arm, and concentrated. A glowing yellow light appeared around the area of the break. With a 'pop', the bone was healed. He heard to gasps.

"What was that, Potter?" barked Moody. Harry leaned against the wall.

"What was what?" Harry asked slyly, not looking at the man, rather rubbing the back of his head. Yep, a lump was already forming.

"Whatever you just did!" Moody exploded. Harry didn't even blink. A vein in Moody's neck was throbbing.

"What did I do?" Harry asked. Now Moody looked ready to attack him. Harry almost took a step back.

"You just healed your arm!" Moody thundered. Harry carefully raised an eyebrow.

"If you knew that, why did you ask me what I had done?" Harry asked. Moody muttered incomprehensibly for a few moments, before Dumbledore stepped forward.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Dumbledore asked. Harry nodded. "Good, then. Here, take this," Dumbledore was handing him a book.

Harry paled, but he took it anyway. He felt a very familiar pull behind his naval, then he landed at twelve Grimmauld place. He stared hyperventilating. Damn, he hated port keys. They always reminded him of the third task, back in his fourth year.

Suddenly two strong hands grabbed his shoulders and gently pulled him to his feet. Harry had his eyes tightly shut, and he was taking deep breaths.

"Can we just take a taxi next time, maybe?" Harry asked. "I really dislike port keys," mumbled Harry.

"Are you all right, dear?" Molly Weasley asked.

"I'm fine," Harry said automatically. 'Yeah, she's believing that one, Potter,' Harry thought to himself. He had said it with such a lack of conviction that he almost laughed. Harry noticed Moody hadn't come with them. Odd.

"Of course you are, dear," Mrs. Weasley said placating. She led him into the kitchen, and sat him down. "Are you hungry, dear? When was the last time you ate anything? How about a little soup?"

"Ah, no, thank you, Mrs. Weasley. I'm not really hungry. I ate eh… No, I'm not really hungry," Harry said. Mrs. Weasley's eyes narrowed.

"When. Was. The. Last. Time. You. Ate?" she asked calmly. Harry appeared to be thoughtful for a moment.

"Two –ckgckgs- ago," replied Harry.

"Excuse us, Harry, but we didn't exactly catch that. Care to repeat it?" Dumbledore asked from behind him. Harry turned to him and glared fiercely.

"Two weeks!" Harry hissed. Suddenly he had four very angry people ganging up on him. Not just angry, but fully trained adults. "Oh! Hey! Not cool! What are you doing? Hey, put me down! Ow!" Harry had been forcefully lifted and pushed into a chair. "I told you I'm not hungry!"

Dumbledore, Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, and Remus glared at him. "Okay, I'll eat if you stop looking at me like you'll kill me!" Harry surrendered. His plate was piled high with food. As soon as he took a bite, fifteen years worth of appetite came back to him. It took two hours for him to

be done.

* * *

POV change to Dumbledore

* * *

"So, Harry, just how _not_ hungry are you?" Albus asked. Harry didn't even look up from his plate of food. Albus saw Tonks looking at Harry in surprise. "Yes, Nymphadora?"

"He can eat more than Kingsley," the metamorphmagus remarked. "And that man can out eat every other auror in the ministry. That is not normal, professor," Tonks said knowingly. "The only time people eat like that is during magical maturation."

Albus studied Harry a bit. He had known since Harry was a toddler that the little boy would grow to be quite powerful. It had been in his eyes. How often had he visited the Potter home, and had his beard lit on fire, or seen Peter being thrown across the room? Harry was powerful, and was never afraid to use his power.

It seemed, however, that from living with the Dursleys, Harry was unknowingly blocking his power. "Harry?" Albus asked suddenly. Harry was started out of his eating, and looked at Albus. "Did the Dursleys ever say anything to you about magic, before you got your letter?"

Harry stuttered for a second, would not make eye contact with anybody, and then sighed. "Yes." That's it?

"And?" prompted Remus. Harry looked as if he were seriously considering escape. His deep jade green eyes darted from the door to the window.

"And… What? Imagination was banned at that house. The subject never came up much, OK? Can we move onto a different topic, now?" Harry asked, his voice harsh. Albus leaned forward.

"Harry, did any of the Dursleys ever hit you?" Albus asked. A stray, unidentifiable, emotion ran across Harry's seemingly blank eyes. Then he stood up.

"That's it. I'm going back to bed," Harry said, trying to leave. Albus and Remus both stood up quickly and stopped him. "Damn."

"Harry, answer the question," Albus said sternly. He watched as Harry sighed, and pulled a hand through his short black hair.

"What was the question?" Harry asked.

"Did any of the Dursleys ever hit you?" Albus asked, he was slowly becoming impatient with this diversionary tactic.

"Eh…? Other than Dudley, no. Can I go? I didn't get much sleep last night…" Harry drifted off.

Albus was concerned now. Harry hadn't been eating or sleeping? Not good! "Yes, Harry, go to sleep. But, it is eight thirty, and I have no doubt that your friends will be up soon," Albus said. As soon as Harry was out the door, he turned to Tonks, Remus, and Molly. All three of them looked worried. "That did not go well," Albus sighed, sinking back into his chair. Molly started making coffee.

"Have you told him of your plans, Albus?" Remus asked, slowly. Remus did not agree with the plans for Harry, but it had been the only thing Albus could think of.

"No, Remus, not yet. He will be told when he wakes up." Remus rolled his eyes.

"You bloody coward," muttered Lupin.

"You're hiding stuff from Harry again, aren't you?" a sharp voice from the doorway startled all in the kitchen. Hermione Granger was standing there, arms crossed, and a very angry look. "This had better not be something that will hurt him, Dumbledore."

"It is not, miss Granger. I promise. I would not do something like that to him again. I couldn't," Albus said, looking down at the table. Hermione sat down next to him, not taking her eyes off him the entire time.

"You care about him, don't you?" she asked softly.

"As if he were my own son, Miss Granger. I couldn't stand to see him hurt again. Not because of me." Hermione looked him over again, then nodded.

"Then I trust you," she said, simply, firmly. The sounds of people waking, and Harry screaming at them to shut up, filled the house.

It was bound to be an eventful day, at the very least.

* * *

Good place to stop, no? I think it is, yeah. shall be updated soon, I think.

Now, should Harry befriend Draco Malfoy at school, or not?

Should Draco be good, or evil?

Will Draco help the order?

I'm trying not to make this a slash story, because I've read so many that they seem cliché. So, what should the ships be?

Review and tell me, then!

MountainDewIsDeadly


	3. Blood, Waffles, and OWLs

Disclaimer: This is getting ridikulus. Don't own it, do not want it.

Note: This chapter introduces Lord of the Rings. As I've said in the summary, it starts a regular fandom, like HP is to us, but then it becomes Harry's reality.

* * *

Albus' POV. 10:30 A.M. 7/31/96

* * *

Albus was just standing up from the table when he heard something that nearly made his heart stop.

"HARRY! OH MERLIN!" boomed the voice of Ron Weasley.

"Ron! I am _fine_! It's just a little blood!" Harry yelled back.

"Harry James Potter! It looks like a giant punched you in the face!" bellowed Ron. Molly, Remus, and Albus all ran up the stairs.

"Ron, you're my best mate. If you haven't seen me bleed before, I'm going to have to find a new friend," Harry replied sarcastically. Molly threw the door open, and promptly shrieked. "Well, that certainly cannot be good," muttered a bloody Harry.

"_Harry_!" yelled Remus.

"Hi, Remus! How have you been?" Harry asked. "You look a bit peaky, if I do say so myself," Harry noted. Remus went even more pale than before.

"Harry! You're covered in blood!" Remus squeaked. Harry rolled his eyes, and touched a hand to the back of his head.

"You noticed, did you? _Yes_, I figure I can save _so_ much money on blush this way… Really now. God. It's stopped bleeding. It doesn't even hurt, I fell off of the bed, ok? Can a man get a bit of privacy, please? I don't like being gawked at, especially when I'm in nothing but my shorts. And more importantly, if it's my best mates mum, my fathers best friend, and my headmaster. So, please, get out, you sick pedophiles," Harry smirked, herding the three adults out the door.

"Did you just call my mother a pedophile?" a laughing Ron asked.

The three adults got back to the kitchen. "Did you see him? He was covered in blood!" Molly exploded.

"Well, Molly, it does not, actually, surprise me all that much, really. I almost expected this. I just didn't wish for it to come to pass," Albus admitted mournfully. "It just seemed to happen sooner than it should have. Harry will have to learn occlumency, to stop him from having those visions from Voldmort."

"Oh bloody hell, you're kidding, right?" Harry's voice, coming from the door, asked bitingly. Albus froze, sighed, and turned around.

"No, Harry, I'm not kidding. It is vital for the war-" Harry interrupted Albus, much to the old mans surprise.

"HA! Showering is a _vital part of life_, but not everybody seems to pay attention to that. So, I won't bother with Occlumency." Harry threw a meaningful glance at Severus.

"You little brat! How dare you-"

"My house, my rules. You don't like it? Then leave," Harry pointed to the front door. Severus glared, but made no attempt to move. "I thought so. Damn, I'm hungry!" Harry walked over to the stove and started cooking.

"Harry, two hours ago, you ate for two hours straight. You are not possibly hungry again!" Tonks exclaimed.

"Eh, yeah, I am. Starving, actually. Hi Hermione," Harry said brightly as the curly haired witch came in. "Are you hungry! I'm makin' _waffles_!"

"Harry, can you even cook?" Hermione asked slowly. Harry scoffed, putting the batter in the waffle iron.

"Hermione, I've been cooking since I was four. I'm a damn fine chef, thank you very much," Harry said. Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Four? What? Did you help your aunt in the kitchen?" she asked. Then she seemed to freeze. Albus looked to Harry to see his reaction. The teenager seemed to have completely stopped moving, before acting as if nothing had happened.

"No, silly, I was forced to cook for the Dursleys for seven years. Do you want blueberry, or chocolate chip?" Harry asked. "With a ham and cheese omelet, toast, bacon, apple sausage, link sausage, ham, and hash browns." Ron came thundering down the stairs.

"Mum, breakfast smells- Harry!" Ron stopped dead in the doorway.

"No, Ron, not _Harry_, **_waffles_**!" Harry said.

"_You're_ cooking?" Ron asked, slightly reluctantly.

"Is everybody going to start to question my cooking abilities? Sit down, shut up, and eat," Harry snapped, putting a plate of food in front of Ron. Harry himself sat in front of Albus. Albus watched the young man for a minute. He noticed the boy rub the back of his head briefly.

"Mate, you sound like my mum," Ron said. Molly, who had been watching Harry cook, wide eyed, glared at her son. "Which is a complete compliment, mate. Look, I'm eating!" Ron shoved a piece of omelet in his mouth. "Oofma! Dis sis goofd!"

"What?" Hermione asked.

"He said 'Oh my, this is good.' You just have to learn how to speak Dudley, and whenever people talk with their mouth full, it is really very clear." Harry began piling plates high with food, and putting them in front of everybody. "Eat!" he commanded.

"Harry, you seem, livelier than you did this morning. What changed?" Albus asked. Harry stopped inhaling food at an insane pace, and answered.

"You gotta live sometime in your life, right? I've waited fifteen years to have fun, a normal, life, and I'm not waiting any longer. I've done my waiting. I'm done," Harry said coldly.

Three birds flew at the window. Hermione jumped up, shrieking, and screaming nonsense words. Harry looked at Ron with a raised eyebrow.

"This is nothing. She damn near threw a party when a crow landed outside her bedroom window. We had to shoo the bird away before she grabbed it and killed the poor thing, trying to find the OWL results…" Ron muttered. Harry smirked.

"So, Hermione," Harry moved in front of the window, locking it behind his back, "how has your summer been? Productive? Have you finished your homework yet, because I just don't get the transfiguration-" Harry was interrupted when Hermione picked him up. She spun around, throwing him across the dining table. Harry landed on the ground on the other side. "Damn. She's strong."

"It's a woman thing, mate," Ron commented. Hermione gave up trying to unlock the window.

"Aaahgh!" she threw a frying pan threw the glass. The birds, though thoroughly freaked out, came in the window.

"Get out of my way!"

"Geroff me!"

"Ow! That was my ear, you big footed goon!" Harry said. Ron and Harry were both trying to get out of the door, unsuccessfully.

"What did you –_oomph_- call me?" Ron snapped. The two of them were just too big to get through the door at the same time. They were rolling around on the floor, both trying to get out first.

"Well, you _somehow_ just managed to _kick_ my _ear_. Ow, ow, ow! FREEDOM!" Harry sprinted up the stairs, Ron close behind him.

"Get back here, you damned bird, before I curse you back to the seventeenth century!" shrieked Hermione. It seemed the bird with her OWL results was not willing to go near her.

Hermione was standing on the kitchen counter, ready to leap. The owl was fluttering near the ceiling, right over the table.

"Come here, birdie, birdie, birdie. Come here. NO YOU DON'T!" Hermione leapt of the counter, grabbing the flying bird out of the air, and landed flat on her stomach, right on the table.

"Miss Granger!" snapped Minerva. She had, apparently, just come into the room, from her bedroom upstairs. Hermione practically flew off the table, standing on the floor properly. She smiled warmly.

"Oh. Hello professor! So good to see you. How has your summer been so far?" Hermione asked.

"Aside from the fact that I was nearly _flattened_ by a teenaged boy stampede, lovely, Hermione," Minerva said. The other two owls had flown out of the room, and up the stairs.

"Aghghg! Ron, they're following us! Quick! Lock the door and board up the windows!" Harry could be heard yelling. "And turn on music! Maybe that'll _scare_ the buggers away!"

It was too much. Albus nearly fell out of his chair with laughter. Minerva was chuckling. Even Severus found it funny, and he was smiling.

Hermione tore the letter open. She scanned the list, then started jumping up and down. "All 'O's'!" she repeated over and over, "Twelve OWLS!" Then, the 'teachers pet' got an evil glint in her eyes. "OH! Harry! Ron! What did you two get! Surely too big, strong boys aren't afraid of a few itty bittie owls, are they?" Hermione yelled up the stairs.

"YES!" was the firm reply. Hermione looked back at the kitchen she had a devilish grin on her usually sweet face. She began to go up the stairs. There was a moment of silence, then.

"NO! NO! NO! Help! Mommy…!" Ron yelled.

"Oh _really_, you big baby! Just open the letter, and I'll read it for you, ok?" Hermione asked. Silence. More silence.

"NO WAY! No bloody way! I got more than Fred n' George put together!" Ron yelled. Then there was no more noise.

An hour into the order meeting, there was a persistent knock on the door. Albus, who was sitting closest, opened the door. Harry brushed past him, and pushed a piece of parchment to his chest roughly.

"Care to explain, or were you hoping that I would not read the fine print until too late?" Harry snapped coldly. Albus mind went through different curses in every language he knew.

"Um… Now isn't really the best time, Harry. We were just discussing Voldemort's upcoming plans of attack-"

"Oh, piss on Voldemort! This is rather important, wouldn't you agree? I mean, it is not everyday that a kid is signed up for sixteen different classes without his consent, is it, Dumbledore? It is not every day that said person is told they are not allowed to drop even one of their classes, is it, headmaster?" Harry demanded.

"Yes, well, you see, Harry, it is of utmost importance that you train to your full potential for the upcoming war." Albus was trying to get the child to see reason. It didn't look like that was going to happen.

"Dumbledore, I've never taken ancient runes before! There is no way that I will even attempt NEWT level. No chance in hell, Dumbledore. I'm dropping nine of these, now. Hermione is only taking eight classes! There is no way in seven hells that I am taking more classes than Hermione," Harry stated coldly. Albus drew himself up to his full height, and Harry did the same. Ah, it is not so intimidating when the person you are trying to intimidate is the same height.

"Oh, but you will, Harry." Suddenly, Harry got an evil look in his eyes, and his frown twisted into a Snape-ish smirk/sneer.

"Alright. I'll take sixteen classes. You never know, this could be …fun…" Harry said. "I take it, though, that you are prepared to deal with the consequences of your actions, provided I warned you that this is a bad idea?"

"What consequences, Harry?" Albus asked. Harry just smirked.

"Oh, I don't know. But you had better have the Gryffindor table stocked full of coffee at every meal. Black, hot coffee. I'm not kidding." Harry walked out the door.

Albus was a little hurt that Harry refused to speak to him for most of the rest of summer. Molly Weasley and Minerva McGonagall went shopping for all the students, as it wasn't safe for them to leave the house.

Albus had been there when they got back. Both women were looking at him murderously. They took out bags and bags of shopping, and un-shrunk it all.

"Children! We have your school stuff!" Molly yelled up the stairs.

"Yay," Ronald muttered, coming down the stairs.

"Ron…" Molly handed him his books and robes, "Hermione… Ginny… Harry." Albus watched Ron's eye nearly pop out of his head as he saw his best friend be handed almost twenty books. Harry, however, just smiled at Molly.

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley! It was so kind of you to sacrifice your day to do some shopping for us. We really do appreciate it, Mrs. Weasley!" Harry said happily. "Come on Ron! We have some serious revising to do! Chop, Chop! NEWTs coming up, you know," Harry said loudly, pulling Ron from the room. Ginny And Hermione stood, staring up the stares. The turned to each other.

"Those two are up to something," both girls sighed.

"That scares me, a little," Minerva said to Molly.

"What's this? The head Gryffindor, afraid?" Albus joked. The two woman spun around to face him so fast, Albus could have sworn they had used magic to do it.

"And you!" Molly started. Albus sensed the famous Weasley Temper coming into play. "What right do you have, forcing so many subjects onto Harry?" fumed the Weasley matriarch.

"Well, Molly-"

"Yes, Albus, tell us why, please," Minerva scoffed. "Tell us why you would force a child, who, until _very_ recently, showed little to no interest in the subjects he _knew_. The only class he excelled at was Defense! Albus, there is no way that Harry could handle taking sixteen classes!"

"He is not taking sixteen! He is taking fourteen!" Albus exclaimed. The two angry woman both raised and eyebrow. "The other two, he's… teaching," Albus finished. He then, very wisely, took a few steps back. Only problem now is, he had nowhere to go. They had cornered him in a corner of the kitchen.

"TEACHING!" both woman exploded. Albus had no where to go, and they were advancing on him.

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore! I refuse to allow you to do this! You listen to me, Dumbledore! You may well be the most powerful wizard in the last two hundred years! I don't care! I do care about the welfare of my students! Do you remember the first time you made a life altering decision for Harry? I told you not to do it! What do you do? You did it!

"You have no concept of woman's intuition! I know this is wrong! It is wrong! If you don't listen to me, and Harry falls apart, you will be the one to put him back together! Do you understand?" Minerva asked sternly.

"Yes, professor," Albus answered meekly.

Dinner that night could not have gone worse for Albus.

"Ronald Billius Weasley! Put the book down and eat- Am I really saying this?" Molly cut her rant off quickly. "What are you reading? Those don't look like school books," Molly stated. Ron looked up just long enough to answer.

"LordoftheRings,theFellowshipoftheRing. HarrystolethemfromDudley," he said quickly. Harry was also reading a book.

"And you, Harry?" Molly asked.

"Lord of the Rings, 'the Two Towers,' Mrs. Weasley," Harry said. Ron gasped suddenly.

"NO! The dwarf-lord dude is dead? But then what's in the rest of the Mines of Moria?" Then silence. Another gasp from Ron, "no! Dammit Gandalf! A water charm mixed with a light spell would have rid you of that! Damn orcs!" Ron cried out.

"You should see the movie! They look evil! And then there's the elves!" Harry said. Ron looked up.

"They have movies?" he asked, excited. Harry nodded.

"They have a cave troll in it, two. I'd swear that one of the people making the movie was a wizard. It looks exactly like a real cave troll! Big, bulky, and retarded. Legolas kills him with an arrow to the throat," Harry nodded. "it looks so cool, in the movie, when Boromir takes this dudes arm off! Then his head, of course! Like he was cutting through warm butter, he was."

"That is-" Ron cut Hermione off.

"Sooo cool! He took the head off? With what? A sword? We have to watch that, Harry! How long is the movie?" Ron asked.

"Eh, three-ish-four hours. That's just the first one, too! You should see-"

"Harry Potter! One more word about somebody losing a limb…" Molly left the threat hanging in the air. Harry just smiled at her.

"Nothing like that, Mrs. Weasley! I was going to say that he should see what happens to Gandalf," Harry said, still smiling.

"What do you mean, What happens to Gandalf?" Ron asked suspiciously. "He was killed, on the bridge of Khazad-dum, with the shadow monster thing, was he not?" Ron asked, leaning towards Harry.

"Ah! Gandalf the Grey fell into the abyss, but it is Gandalf the White that meets the Fellowship in 'Two Towers'," Harry said.

"HE WHAT?" Ron roared, upsetting a gravy boat. "He does not! Not even _Wizards_ can come back from the dead like that! What happened?" Ron asked eagerly. Everybody else at the table was staring at the two boys as if they were crazy.

"Excuse me, who is Gandalf?" Fred asked. His twin, George, nodded, silently asking for an answer.

"Gandalf, tall wizard dude. Pointed hat, robes, long bear and hair. Wise, old. You know. Merlin type guy. He fell to his death at the bridge of Khazad-dum, after telling the Orcs and the shadow dude that they could not pass over the bridge. He was pretty awesome, too. He helped Frodo make his way from the Shire, to the Mines of Moria. That's as far as I've gotten," Ron said. "Now if you want a cool person, Aragorn is awesome."

"I had to leave the room, whenever he came into the movie..." Harry muttered, reading and eating. The whole table, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny, Molly, Arthur, Remus, Minerva, Severus, and Albus himself turned to stare at him.

"Why? Were you getting horny or something?" George asked. Harry rolled his eyes.

"No, you dolt. Look at this," Harry said, handing the book he was holding to and interested Ron. "Back cover, top, picture closest to the spine. That's Aragorn, in the movie." Ron let loose a mighty gasp, his eyes wide, jaw open.

"Merlin… That looks like Sirius!" Ron breathed. Fred grabbed the book.

"Doppelganger, or _what_?" Harry asked. Ron snorted.

"Yeah, this looks like Sirius. But, this dude is sweaty, and dirty, and wielding a sword, from the looks of it. On the front of this one, is that Legolas?" Ron asked, turning the book to the front.

"I'm quite sure Gimli does not have pointed ears, Ron," Harry said sarcastically.

"Shuddup!" Ron snapped.

"Wanna make me?" Harry asked.

"Bite me," Ron said.

"If you two don't stop, _I'll_ bite both of you," Remus warned. Harry and Ron both smiled widely at him.

"Well…" they both said, "that would save us the time of becoming an animagus, Moony."

"So! Harry, How are your lesson plans coming?" Minerva asked suddenly. Harry stopped the playful banter with Remus. He raised and eyebrow at the deputy headmistress.

"Excuse me?" he asked, slowly, deliberately. Albus looked at him, in that moment. With his eyebrow raised like that, his hair pointed in too many directions to count, and a mischievous look on his face, Harry looked more like James Potter than Albus had ever seen him look.

"Your lesson plans. You don't expect to teach a class without a previous thought on it, do you?" Minerva asked. Harry's raised eyebrow went higher. Now, albus could see the Lily in him. His face had gone from mischievous to confused/realization in the blink of an eye. Harry knew what was going on, but chose to overlook it. Lily had worn that look more than once.

"It would appear, then, that we have had a very unfortunate misunderstanding. You see, professor, I am a student. I do not teach," Harry said, pointedly, looking at Albus himself.

"Actually, Harry, you're a great teacher. We learned more from you than we did four of our other defense teachers put together. Not including Remus, of course," Ron said quickly. Remus nodded.

"Yes, Harry, didn't Dumbledore tell you? No? You're teaching two classes this year. Both are required classes for fifth year and up," Minerva said. Harry's eyes narrowed, his brow furrowed slightly. He tipped his chair onto the back two legs, and gave Minerva an interested look.

"_Really_, now? Am I really? Don't you think it would be useful for me to have known about this, more than a week before classes start? And what, pray tell, am I to teach?" Harry asked.

"Advanced Defense, and Weapons," Minerva replied. Harry made an odd 'hmn' sound, deep in his throat.

"Really? And what sort of weapons would these be?" Harry asked, not sounding at all concerned. Albus cut in before Minerva replied.

"Swords, knives, bow and arrows, and throwing stars," Albus answered swiftly.

"And what experience do I have with these weapons?" Harry asked calmly. "Or do you revel in hiring inexperienced people to teach your students- Oh, excuse me, you do," Harry said coldly. Albus fought the sudden urge to flinch under Harry's gaze.

"Harry, that was unnecessary," Albus scolded.

"I've got every right to be rude, don't you think? First, I'm told to take sixteen classes, now I'm told I'm to teach two of them?" Harry said, sarcastically, bitingly. Albus closed his eyes and sighed. "So, when were you planning on telling me, then?"

"At the welcoming feast, Harry," Albus replied, quietly, looking anywhere but the other occupants of the room.

"Ah! You wished to do it in a place where I would surly not make a scene. Is that not it?" Harry asked. Albus nodded after a moment. "Well, you're very sorely mistaken. I most likely would have upped and cursed you in front of the entire school. Then, I say, I would likely have had Dobby serve you rotted for weeks," Harry said softly.

"Well, Harry, I don't think I like this angry side of you," Ron said. "It is a bit scary, to tell the truth."

"I'm scarier when I'm happy, Ron," Harry said. "I will usually start singing. But right now I really just want to-"

"Oi! Harry! Have you heard about the Cannons?" Ron asked quickly. "Going to the world cup, they are. I can feel it," Ron said, nodding.

"Yes, Ron. That will happen when I date Draco Malfoy," Harry said, as if really explaining something to his friend. Ron got the funniest look on his face, as if a cross between resignation and disgust. Harry turned back to Albus. He drew in a deep breath, as if to make a long speech. "No." That was all. Simple, and to the point.

"No? Are you refusing?" Albus asked, his voice growing cold and hard. Harry took a moment to think.

"Hm… Depends. How much are you paying?" Harry asked. Albus started.

"Paying? What do you mean, 'Paying'?" Albus asked. Albus looked around the table, but he noticed a lot of raised eyebrows, in his direction. Harry turned to Severus.

"Not to be rude, and nothin personal, but are you paid for teaching?" Severus nodded. "And how much?"

"One hundred and ninety three galleons a week, Potter," Severus said, slowly. Harry's head snapped back to Albus.

"Then I expect two hundred a week," Harry declared.

"Two hundred?" Ron and Albus exclaimed. Harry raised an eyebrow, and laughing, cold, mocking laugh.

"I'm very high maintenance, you know," Harry said sarcastically.

"Yes, we can tell from the look of you. As I've told Fred countless times. 'Fred,' I'd say, 'I'll tell ye, that Potter lad is a mite too High Class for us simpletons. He be flushing money down the drain, he is," George said, in a rather pompous tone. Fred nodded.

"Aye. I be telling Potter he be tossing money left an' right. Do he listen? Not a bit! He goes and throws his tournament winnings the little folk. Money runs threw his hands, not unlike water threw a net," Fred said. Everybody turned to Harry.

"Oh! Here that, Fred, George? It's the distant sound of your necks snapping," Harry said airily. His eyes remained calm, and collected.

"Oy! George, Didn't we leave that potion brewing, you know, that one that does… that?" Fred asked his twin frantically. George nodded, and they cleared the room.

"Harry, whom did you give the money to?" Molly Weasley asked.

"Hm… That was such a long time ago. Two boys, about yea high," he indicated an inch below the top of his head, "red hair, freckles," Harry said, standing up and backing towards the door. "Will yah look at the time, gotta go. I have go… read something!" Harry took off out of the door.

"Immature, he is." Suddenly Ron jumped up, chasing Harry out the door. "Oi! Potter! Let's watch the movie!"

"To think, I'm friends with those two…" Hermione got up, with Ginny, and they left the room.

* * *

Chapter three (reposted!)! There y'all go. Hope you enjoyed it. I, personally, think it sucked. But that could just be me… I reposted it. HArry's change of heart will have more reason, for those who really pay attention!

MountainDewIsDeadly


	4. Orc Invasion!

Disclaimer. Not mine! Stop asking! (/Mumbles/ Can't give an aspiring writer peace, can they?) I don't own Lord of the Rings, either.

"Dotdotdot" Speech

'Dotdotdot' Thought

"_Dotdotdot"_ LotR movie quote. I had to watch that damnable scene a hundred times, and I _still_ don't think it's right!

* * *

The order meeting that night went almost as planned. It would have, in fact, been perfect, if it were not for the noise coming from the second floor. It was so loud, the ceiling was vibrating. Dust fell on the heads, occasionally. 

"Turn it up, Harry! It's too quite!" roared Ron. The two had been watching that blasted movie all day.

"_Do you know how the Orcs first came to be?" A pause, with a slight rumble. "They were elves, once. Taken by the dark powers. Tortured and mutilated. A ruined, and terrible form of life. And now, perfected. Whom do you serve?" A pause, and a deep, vicious growl. _

"_Sauoman!" a rumbling, terrible voice answered._

_Growls, roars, and clanking is heard._

"_Hunt them down, do not stop until they are found! You do not know pain, you do not know fear. You will taste man flesh!" Cries (grunts and howls, more like,) are heard. "One of the Halflings carries something of great value. Bring them to me alive… and unspoiled_. _Kill the others!_"

Albus sighed. They had been interrupted four times by the two teenaged boys.

"Fast forward it! This part is boring! Get to the blood and gore!" Ron yelled. A moment of quite. "Ok, stop."

_More roars. Sounds of a sword fight. "Find the Halflings! Find the Halflings!" _

"Don't call them towards you, yah idiot! Oh! axe to the stomach! Legolas just took out like, six dudes! Slit throat! _Mummy_! That dudes a _beast_!" Ron said. "Yeah, take an arrow to the heart, stand up, and keep fighting. Likely, very likely. Abs, too. Ribcage. Ew, he's all sweaty!" Ron said. "Aragorn saves the day!… there goes the beast-Orcs arm. Sword to the stomach! And there goes the head!"

"Ron, shut up!" Harry yelled.

"Can we watch the cave troll part again?" Ron asked.

"Ron! Did you want to see the second movie this _year_?" Harry asked.

"Both of you! Be quite, before I come up there and shut you up!" Molly bellowed. Silence followed. Albus sighed, glad the noise was over.

"To continue… Severus, what news do you bring from Voldemort?" Albus asked the surly man in the corner.

"He is gathering his army. We've nearly failed in our quest to gather a more diverse army than the Dark Lord. He has Werewolves, Vampires, Trolls, Giants, and a vast number of other vile Dark creatures. He is even creating a breed of Creature. He has made one. A vile little beast, dressed nearly in rags. He has not magic, or cunning, but a blade and a bow more fierce than all I have seen," Severus said solemnly. "Soon these vile things will outnumber the light ten to one."

"Oomph!" came, muffled, through the door. A 'Thud,' 'Crash,' and 'Bang' followed. Then running footsteps.

"Those boys!" fumed Molly.

"Excuse me," Albus said, standing and walking towards the door. "I must know what they have heard." Albus walked out the door.

He walked up the stairs, at a decidedly slow pace. He approached the room of the two teenaged boys. Furious whispered hissed like snakes on the other side of the heavy wooden door. Albus could hear nothing but the muffled sound. He knocked on the door. He heard 'Thump, thump, thump,' in reply.

"Yes? Who's calling?" Harry's voice asked.

"He means… We're not in right now, please leave a message after the beep…" No 'beep' came from Ron. Albus opened the door with a simple unlocking charm.

"Oi! Bloody hell!" A '_Thud_!' came from in the room. When Albus came into the door all the way, he could only see Ron.

"Ronald, where is Harry?" Albus asked calmly. Ron looked to the other side of the room, the side Albus assumed was Harry's.

"Hiding under his bed," Ron answered.

"Don't make me sound like a bloody coward, Ronald Bilius Weasley!" came a bold voice from under the bed.

"Oi! Sorry! That did sound kinda bad, didn't it? No, headmaster, Harry is taking cover under his bed, because he is only half dressed," Ron amended. "No wonder he's a seeker. He has awesome reflexes, you know. And he doesn't need a broom to dive, either. He just slid under the bed like he did it every day."

A few muttered curses came from under the bed, and Harry emerged, glaring at Ron. "Honestly… 'He's hiding under the bed'…" Harry muttered. "Wait till you need me to cover for you…"

"Boys," Albus said firmly, "Sit down." They did. They both sat on Ron's bed, and Albus pulled over a chair, and sat in front of them. "Were you spying on a meeting of the Order?" Albus asked. Harry and Ron looked at each other, blinking.

"No…" Harry said. Albus raised an eyebrow.

"Honest, sir, we didn't! We wouldn't do that!" declared Ron, indignant.

"Do not lie, Ronald. We heard you two outside the door, listening to Severus' report about Voldemort's army!" Albus temper flared. Albus saw Harry look at Ron and shake his head.

"Sorry, sir," Harry said, meekly.

"Sorry, headmaster," Ron said, looking out the window.

Albus proceeded to scold and lecture them for fifteen minutes. He walked out the door, not noticing the twin mischievous smirks forming. He walked down to the kitchen, only to find Hermione and Ginny being scolded and lectured for precisely what he had just blamed Harry and Ron for.

Albus realized his mistake too late. "Thanks for the information, professor!" yelled the two boys.

"Albus, it was Hermione and Ginny. And you've told Harry and Ron what they were 'listening to' did you not?" Remus asked.

"Yes, I believe I did," Albus said.

"We're _really_ sorry," Hermione said.

"As you should be! You've made me look like a fool!" Dumbledore said. "I do not know how those boys tricked me into that-" A loud scream erupted from upstairs.

"ORC!" Thunderous footstep echoed around the house, down the stairs, and into the –oomph- kitchen. The door slammed into Albus, throwing him to the ground painfully. He stood up, sending a stern look at the two boys.

"Professor Snape!" yelled Ron.

"What did the-" Harry said.

"Creature look-" Ron continued.

"Like?" Harry finished. Hermione put her head in her hands.

"No! Now they're finishing each others sentences!" she said quietly.

"Almost like a House Elf," Severus replied, not caring he was talking to two of his most hated students, "though taller, much taller. Maybe even taller than myself. Mean looking. Slightly pointed ears, too."

"What color was its skin?" Ron asked. Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Black, brown? Big eyes, too." Harry and Ron gasped.

"Sir! Could you put the image in a pensieve for us, please?" both of the begged. Severus gave his consent. Albus got the pensieve.

Harry and Ron were nearly beating each other up to go in first, until Hermione sighed and pushed them both in. "Boys… Honestly," she mumbled. A few minutes later, Harry and Ron came out, shaking and pale. They both looked at Albus.

"Sir, you've got an Orc invasion," both boys said.

"This can't be happening. It's not possible. Sir," Harry turned to Severus, "did Voldemort mention elves, by chance?"

"Why, yes, he did. He said something about elves-" Ron screamed.

"Quit your screaming!" Hermione yelled. Ron blushed a little.

"That was not a scream! That was a _very_ masculine bellow of rage," Ron said Harry snorted. "Shuddup!" Ron stomped on Harry's foot.

"'Masculine bellow of rage… Yeah, Hermione is having a love affair with Fluffy…" Harry said, causing both Ron and Hermione to turn red, and start yelling at him. "Back to the matter at hand! We're about to have an invasion of creatures from ancient middle earth!"

"Excuse me, but I think you should explain this to us," Severus said smoothly.

"Well! I don't think we have enough time for all of you to read the books, so-" Ron started.

"-Movie time! Who wants _popcorn_!" Harry asked.

"Harry. It's happened. You have truly gone off the deep end. Really, now, that can't be healthy," Ron said. Harry turned on Ron.

"Ronald Weasley! We have bigger issues to deal with than my questionable sanity! Honestly! Like the supposedly mythical creatures suddenly turning up in the hands of Voldemort!" Harry said.

"Hey! Mate! Calm it down a little! All we have to do is teach the entire Wizarding world how to sword fight, and we'll be good. Oi! I just thought of what I said, and it sounded pretty stupid. Go ahead and panic, mate," Ron said weakly.

Harry's POV… Finally.

Orcs. Bloody great, that is. But it's just not possible! Of course, six years ago, Harry thought that magic was impossible too. Harry sat in a chair that was behind him, taking no notice that Ginny leapt out of it before he sat on her. He was deep in thought.

"Harry! Please return to reality! Harry!" Ron called, waving a hand in front of his face. "YO! SCARHEAD!" Ron bellowed, when no answer was forthcoming. Harry looked at him, unfazed.

"Yes?"

"You're zoning, mate. Dumbledore asked you a question… almost five minutes ago," Ron said. Harry looked to the headmaster, who was now sitting across from him.

"Yes?" Harry repeated, to Dumbledore this time. The man sighed deeply.

"Harry, the Order has decided to let you join, and be in charge of the 'Orc' division. You will, if you agree, attend meetings that will be now be held at Hogwarts. All of them. You would be in charge of researching and destroying Orcs, as you called them. Will you accept?" Dumbledore asked. Harry pondered the offer for a moment.

"And who would help me?" Harry asked eventually.

"Remus, Tonks, Severus, Fred, and George. Ronald, Hermione, and Ginerva, if they also agree. Do you accept?" Dumbledore asked. The old man looked tired of asking this question now.

"Yes, on one condition," Harry said. Again, the headmaster sighed.

"What would that be, Harry?"

"I get complete access to the entire library, twenty four seven," Harry said. Dumbledore looked to McGonagall. She nodded reluctantly.

"That will be alright, Harry. Do not abuse the power, though," he warned.

"Aye, aye, capitan. I'll get started on that research now. G'night," Harry walked out the door, humming to himself.

* * *

Chapter four! That's all I have written now, so... I'll have to start writing!

REVIEW... Please? Pretty please? With a lemon drop on top?

MDID


	5. HIYAAH!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.

Note to Readers: We finally get to the actual crossover part! Please don't blame me for any errors with Lord of the Rings cannon, I haven't studied it as deeply as Harry Potter. Not yet, at least…

Swearing Thing: Personally "Bloody" is not swearing, but... if it is to you, then there is a lot of swearing, because that is said a lot, along with "damn," and "hell".

* * *

The next morning donned bright and early. Albus was to take the kids to Hogwarts, a day early. He had been up almost all night, researching the new threat of Voldemort. Orcs.

It was now five in the morning, and Albus had been assigned the task of waking the children. He went first to the girls room. He knocked until he got a reply. "Wake up, It's time to go to Hogwarts. We leave in ten minutes." Sudden noises of two teenaged girls trying to get ready drifted through the door. Next he went the Boys room. He knocked.

"What the hell do you want! It's five in the bloody morning! Go the hell away!" Harry yelled. Albus opened the door. He found Ron half hanging off the bed, his mouth open, and odd sputtering sounds coming from him. Harry was completely on his bed, but had his head under his pillow, trying to block out noise.

"Harry! You need to get up! We leave in fifteen –mnnnnnhh…" For his trouble all Albus got was a swift quick to a very uncomfortable area. He fell to his knees in between the two beds. Ron's eyes snapped open, and the sixteen year old laughed, falling off the bed completely. "I do not see the humor in this, Mr. Weasley." It probably did not help that Albus' voice was unusually high pitched.

"That's why you were stuck waking him up, sir," Ron laughed. "He does that to everybody. Watch and learn, headmaster. Harry! Your Firebolt is missing!" Ron yelled, out of leg reach of Harry.

Harry was on his feet before his eyes opened. "Who the bloody hell… I hate you, Weasley," Harry growled.

"Boys, get up and get dressed. We leave for Hogwarts in fourteen minutes," Albus said, standing to leave the room. He limped down to the kitchen, daring anybody to comment.

"So, Albus, Are the boys up?" Minerva asked, hiding a smile behind her cup of coffee.

"Yes. And I am _quite_ lucky I am past the age of having children, Minerva." Albus sat down, carefully. A few laughs came from the table. "You could have warned me, you know."

"We could have," Remus replied, sitting to the left of Albus. "But first hand experience is better, wouldn't you say?"

"Not exactly. We'll leave in ten minutes." Remus cleared his throat.

"Do you think it will work?" he asked, buttering a piece of toast.

"I hope it does. It may just be our last chance," Albus said. "The fate of the world rests on the shoulders of two sixteen year old boys. What have we come to?"

"It appears we have come to more lying, half truths, and deceits, headmaster," rang the voice of Hermione Granger. "Now, let us try the truth, and see where it brings us."

"Uhhhh…" Albus said. "We should wait for-"

"Us?" Harry and Ron asked, behind Hermione and Ginny in the doorway. "Yes, headmaster, we are eagerly awaiting your explanation."

"You see, I have been researching these Orcs all night. I have found the time in which they roamed the planet. They served one known as Saruman, is that correct?" He continued as he received two nods. "I wish to send Harry and Ron back to that time. Back to train with the Elves. They will be gone a year, to them. Half a day will pass to us."

"Um, we were not consulted in this decision, like, at all?" Ron asked. Harry's eyes lit up.

"Ok! Which Elves? Lord Elrond? Woodland Elves? Well? Answer!" Harry said. Albus looked at Remus for a second.

"Rivendell, Harry," Albus said. Harry's eyes went even brighter.

"Bloody awesome. You can do that?" Harry and Ron both asked.

"I can. But we must come up with a story for the two of you." Harry and Ron looked at each other, then nodded, and turned back to Dumbledore.

"We're brothers, hailing from the outskirts of Middle Earth. We are part Man, part Wizard. Our father a Wizard, our mother a mortal woman. We set out to Rivendell to seek counsel with Lord Elrond, after our village was attacked at completely destroyed by Orcs," both boys said.

"Why not part Elf?" Albus asked. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I don't have any pointed ears," Harry said.

"Well no, you don't. But you would fit in better if you were also part Elf, don't you think? The ears can be easily dealt with. Harry, your mothers side descends from Elves, that is why you already have Elvish features. It runs in your blood. There is a spell to make you look like Elves, though. Will you do this?" Albus asked.

"Hell yeah! Party with the Elves in Middle Earth!" they exclaimed. Albus nodded and began the very complicated spell. Ron's hair became darker, and a little longer, his ears pointed, and his freckles faded.

Not much happened to Harry, besides his ears pointing. Ron stared at him. "Damn, you really were an Elf, weren't you?"

"Nice hair, buddy." Ron rolled his eyes.

"We need a last name, Harry," Ron pointed out. "Something we both have in common."

"Not really," Harry said, decidedly. Ron nodded, shrugging.

"Sounds good! When do we leave?" Ron asked.

"Now, if you are agreeable," Albus said. Hermione stood up from the chair she had sat down in.

"_Wait_. You're sending my boyfriend back in time, so they can train to use swords? _Are you mad_?" Hermione asked.

"Miss Granger, these boys have agreed to it," Albus said sharply. "It would be most appreciated if you did not second guess and analyze every decision I make."

"Fine. But if they are hurt, I will blame you." Hermione walked out of the room.

"Ronald, Harry, this is a very simple process, really. You just hold onto this leaf, like a Portkey, and it will take you where you are going. You will have exactly three hundred and sixty five days. Do you both have your wands?" Albus asked.

"Yes, we do."

"Then hold onto the leaf, and say 'Rivendell,'" Albus said. "Before you go, though, you may want to think of changing into something that resembles Elf clothing. I don't think the Elves would understand your more modern clothing."

"Nah. I think they'd understand my shirt. It makes total sense," Harry said. His shirt was green camouflage, with white letters saying 'SssHhhHhhHhHH! I'm hiding from the Voices!' "I'll just take the writing off, then," Harry said. The writing disappeared.

Harry was left in a camouflage shirt, and denim blue pants that went halfway down his calves. Ron was wearing similar pants, though black, and a camouflage shirt that said 'Ha! Now you can't see me! Oh no. It's snowing.' He also got rid of the writing.

"Good to go!" they exclaimed together.

"Then take the leaf. We will see you in a year." Both boys grabbed the leaf, and said the password.

The last thing the people in the kitchen heard was "Ah no! My _shoes_!"

"They will be alright, right?" Molly asked. Albus sighed.

"Alas, I do not know."

* * *

"Uh-oh," Ron said. "This is not good." They had landed right in the middle of Rivendell, surrounded by some type of flowers. Ron sneezed, and suddenly both of them were grabbed by Elves. Tall, strong Elves, at that.

"Take these spies to Lord Elrond, immediately!" one Elf said.

"Spies? We aren't-" Ron was silenced. Harry saw something he wouldn't soon forget. Rivendell was the most beautiful place the had ever seen in there lives.

After being dragged a bit, they were thrown on their knees in front of Elrond. "Who are you, and what business do you have in Rivendell? You are unarmed, surely you are not spies. You have the look of an Elf about you," Elrond said.

"Lord Elrond, we are not spies. We seek refuge in Rivendell. Our village was destroyed by Orcs, seven days past," Harry said. "We have the look of Elves because that is what we are. Partly, at least. We are a mix of Wizard, Man, and Elf, Lord Elrond."

"A strange creature indeed!" one guard proclaimed. "I've never heard of such!"

"We are known by few, and we liked it that way, master Elf," Ron said.

"What are your names?" Elrond asked.

"I am Harry," Harry said.

"And I am Ron... His brother," he added, after a second.

"Well, I understand your coming here. So far, Rivendell is the safest place in Middle-earth. I will allow you to stay… for now. I am holding a counsil this afternoon. You are invited to come, if you feel so deeply against Sauron. It is a meeting of many creatures, and we are to discuss many things very dear to the upcoming battles." As he was talking, the people arrived.

"Who is this, Lord Elrond?" Legolas asked, pointing to Harry and Ron.

"Harry and Ron, it seems. They are brothers, and will be joining the counsil today. They have told me they are against Sauron, and I have found no lie in there eyes. They are no spies," Elrond replied.

After a brief round of introductions, the meeting started. Frodo put the Ring where all could see it. Boromir immediately tried to convince the counsil to give the Ring to Gondor.

"Don't you see it? With the Ring of Power, Gondor will never fall!" Boromir said, standing in the middle of the Counsel. Harry turned a snort into a cough. "You find humor in this?" Boromir asked Harry.

"The Ring of Power will _destroy_ Gondor, if it does anything. It is a devise of Sauron. It is a thing of evil, no good can be done with it. You put that ring on, and you will have nine Ringwraiths ready to tear you apart for the Ring," Harry said. "It wants to return to its rightful master. Sauron the Deceiver forged the Ring. Sauron alone can wield it." Gandalf stood up. Harry was so excited right now he could burst. They all looked almost exactly as they had in the movie!

"He speaks the truth, Boromir. The Ring must be destroyed. And to do that, it must be cast back into the fire from whence it came. The fires of mount doom, in Mordor," Gandalf said, his voice powerful and strong. He turned on Harry and Ron. "How is it you know so much about the Ring? You cannot be older than twelve." Ron looked indignant.

"Watch who you're discriminating against-" Harry elbowed Ron.

"What he meant to say, master Gandalf, is that we are sixteen. We know of the Ring of Power because it is known widely in our area. Our people fled after the defeat of Sauron at the hand of Isildur, to the very edge of Middle-earth. The Elves and Men lived together ever since. We've grown up hearing about the Ring of Power, as it is well known to my people," Harry said.

"And what has happened to your people, then?" Aragorn asked.

"All killed. Orcs are immune to our magic. It doesn't affect them. By the time we realized that, it was too late to draw swords. Our village was burned to the ground. We do not know how we escaped," Ron said. "Enough about us, you have a Ring to destroy."

"Yes. And you will help Frodo do it," Elrond said.

"Of cour- _What_? We will?" Harry asked, looking at Elrond. The Elf nodded.

"Yes. You know about the Ring, so you should help Frodo control it. Will anybody else help this young hobbit to Mordor?" Elrond asked. Frodo, who was standing at his stunning height of three foot six, looked stunned, and scared. Aragorn stood up.

"I will," the ranger declared.

"You have my sword," Boromir said, nodding to Frodo.

"And you have my bow," Legolas added.

"And my axe!" Gimli the Dwarf almost shouted.

"I will help lead you to Mordor, Frodo," Gandalf said softly.

"Hey! Hey! Me too!" Samwise sprang out of the nearby bushes. Harry laughed at the look on Elrond's face. The old Elf looked shocked, and confused.

"I should think we would not separate you young hobbits. They will just resort to eavesdropping on secret counsils," Elrond said. His face was priceless when Merry and Pippin came out of the building. "You will depart when Frodo is healed. Until then, Gandalf, I put you in charge of these two children." Elrond pointed to Harry and Ron.

"We are not children!" Ron said, indignant. Harry turned to whisper in his ear.

"Ron. Elrond is over eight _thousand_ years old. He's older'n God. Of course we look like children!" Harry hissed quietly, so that not even the ears of the Elves could hear him. Ron nodded.

"Didn't think of that one!" Ron whispered back. They were being led away by Gandalf.

The month went quickly, and they left on December the twenty fifth, exactly a month to the day after they arrived. Gifted with a sword each, and a bow and a quiver full of arrows from Elrond himself, they set out. The eleven members of the Fellowship of the Ring.

They walked for what seemed like ever. Harry and Ron were constantly being sent suspicious looks. One night, sitting around a fire, Boromir looked at him.

"Do some magic," he demanded. Harry jumped. Ron was sound asleep to his left. It was the first time they had been spoken to through the entire journey, so far.

"What would you have me do? Turn your hair pink?" Harry asked.

"Put the fire out, and rekindle it," ordered Legolas. Harry shrugged. He waved his hand once, and the flame died instantly. He waved his hand again, and the flames came roaring back to life.

"Do you believe me now?" Harry asked. "I mean no harm to any of you. I want the Ring of Power gone, too. Those filthy Orcs destroyed my home, my family, and most of my life. I would never help them. Not if my life were in their hands. I'd rather die than serve Saruman, or Sauron. I swore an oath to you that I would protect you, with my death if it came to that."

"We know, Harry," Aragorn said. "Boromir did not mean to question your allegiance, did you, Boromir?"

"Of course not. We- What was that?" Harry and Legolas were standing on a nearby rock now, listening intently to the wind.

"Orcs," they said, "coming fast, in our direction."

"We need to leave. There are to many for us to fight them," Legolas said, nimbly leaping from the rock. Ron was awake now, and fully alert.

"Then we must go through the Mines of Moria," Gimli said, fingering his axe. "It is the safest way. My cousin would give us a royal welcome!" Ron looked uneasily at Harry.

"Is there really no other way?" they both asked. Gandalf looked to Frodo.

"Let the Ring Bearer decide," he said, his voice strong and powerful.

"We will go through the Mines," Frodo said. Harry saw a pained look cross Gandalf's face. Harry and Ron walked right up to the door, that was glowing a pearly white in the moonlight. They pretended to read the inscription.

"_Mellon_," they said as one. The doors opened. Gandalf raised an eyebrow at them, but they just shrugged. "It means 'friend'."

Inside the mines, they found neither Dwarves nor treasures. The did find, however, the dead bodies of quite a few dozen Dwarves. Gimli was visibly angry, shaking in rage. He dared not open his mouth, lest he lose control and scream.

Pippin dropped a stone down a well, causing it to rattle till the very end. Pippin looked scared, but Gandalf looked angry.

"Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time, and rid us of your stupidity!" Gandalf snapped. Pippin hung his head. Harry and Ron both threw and arm around his shoulder.

"Not to worry, Pip! I'd like to see any Orcs try anything with us! They'll find themselves on the wrong end of my sword!" both Harry and Ron said merrily. Pippin smiled a them.

"Of course they will. Because you really have shown us that you can wield them, you have," Boromir said. He had two swords at his neck, almost before he was finished talking.

"We would appreciate it if you not insult our honor, Master Boromir. Our patience is running thin," they said. Aragorn pulled Boromir back, while Gandalf grabbed Harry and Ron. He shoved them roughly to the other side of the room they were sitting in.

"That is not a good way to gain ones trust," he said sharply. Ron shrugged.

"Neither is second guessing and mistrusting everybody around you." Ron stood up and walked over to Boromir. He offered a hand to the other man. "A truce, Boromir of Gondor. You will not make fun of us, and we will not kill you," Ron suggested.

"You parents never taught you to respect elder, did they? You are but a mere child, in my eyes," Boromir laughed. The sound echoed off of the walls.

"And you are an old man that should be sitting in a rocking chair, eating broth. Do we have a truce?" Harry asked, walking forward.

"Boromir!" barked Aragorn. Boromir took Ron's hand. Gandalf looked over the three of them closely.

"Now, I expect you three to respect each other. Now! Let us sleep. Peregrin, you can keep watch!" the old Wizard growled.

Harry laid down on the hard stone floor, but he could not sleep at all. It scared him witless when Pippin shook his shoulder. "Harry! Harry! Orcs! They're coming!" Pippin whispered. Harry sprang to his feet. "Help me wake up the rest!"

Harry shook Ron, Aragorn, and Gandalf. He ended up with a staff to his throat, for his trouble of waking the wizard. "Bloody hell! Don't shoot!" Gandalf opened his eyes.

"So sorry, lad. I thought you were an Orc," Gandalf explained. Ron snorted.

"Yes. He is a very polite Orc, too. Waking you before he kills you," Ron said. Harry turned to Aragorn, Boromir, and Gandalf.

"Get the hobbits to the bridge of Khazad-dum. Do so quietly, lest you wake something you wish not to see. Make haste! Our time here dwindles," Harry warned. They looked shocked for a second, but followed his orders. Harry and Ron ran in the opposite direction, towards the Orcs.

A bloody battle ensued. Twenty Orcs, against two untrained sixteen year old boys who luckily had swords. Harry was stabbed brutally through his left arm. Ron, though, was spiked in the leg. After the Orcs were killed, or incapacitated in some other way, the two teens ran after the rest of the fellowship.

They were a good fifty feet away from the bridge when Gandalf fell. Though they kept running, both were ready to cry. Leaping across the Gap that had once held half the bridge, they made a _crazy_ mad dash for the outside world.

Collapsing in the snow outside of the cave-ish type opening, Harry and Ron almost instantly turned most of the snow around them red. "Note to self," Harry said to Ron, "never do that again." Harry stood up, wincing, he pulled part of the blade out of his arm. Suddenly he was punched hard in the face. He began hissing violently in parstletongue, saying things that these people wouldn't understand.

"What they hell?" roared Ron. "That is the most dishonorable thing I've ever witnessed in my life! He was pulling a sword out of his arm, for hells sake!"

Harry was off in his own world, cursing in a language that right now, only he could speak. "_Son of a…Mother…! Goddamned! For the love of all that is holy_! AHHHHHHH!" that last part was a scream from Harry, as he kicked a bunch of snow. He then turned to Aragorn calmly. "Are you quite done, lord Aragorn?" he asked politely.

"Yes, I think I am. Sorry for that, but I had to blame somebody. I've known Gandalf for a long time, longer than you've been alive, for sure." Aragorn looked off into the hills. "We must continue."

"Give the hobbits a moment, for pities sake!" Boromir protested. Aragorn looked around sharply.

"These hills will be swarming with Orcs, come nightfall. We need to get them out, now," Aragorn said. Boromir nodded, although it was reluctant.

They set off again, right after Harry and Ron had wrapped cloths around their wounds.

* * *

That was definitely not a great chapter. But, it will have to suffice. About the characters… OOC's rock, wouldn't you agree?… No? A lot of this will be out of the movie, like the events and stuff…

Does anybody know Elrond's last name? Because that damned book holds soo many names that it is impossible to keep track. There are like, a thousand names, and only a hundred characters, you know?

I really hate names. Can't we just say "Hey! You! With the face!" That is so much easier for me.

Review, please!

MDIS


	6. Don't Shoot! I'm Too Gorgeous To Die!

Disclaimer. No copyright infringement intended. Wow, infringement is a big word for me…

Warnings: AU, Crossover, Mild Language, OOC. Also, I'll repeat, I do not go entirely in-depth with LotR. I don't know enough about the cannon. If I make a drastic mistake that really pisses you off, please, flame me. (Nicely!) I've edited all the curse words with "". If you know the word, then it really can't be that offensive. If you don't know it, you can't blame me for telling you: )

* * *

They were walking through woods, following Aragorn. Gimli was going on, and on, _and on_ about an enchantress of some sort. The wood was dark, and quiet. Suddenly they were surrounded by Elves holding loaded bow and arrows.

Ron yelled, "don't shoot! I'm too young to die!"

While Harry yelled, "don't shoot! I'm too gorgeous to die!"

Everybody gave them odd looks. Everybody. Harry and Ron both shrugged. "What? It's true," they both said. Boromir huffed, while the hobbits laughed nervously.

"Follow us," the new Elves said.

"Ah hell nah," Ron said.

"We'll wait for these eight to come back, if it's no problem. We don't trust nutters that attack us at arrow point," Harry said. The Elves looked among themselves. One of them, the leader by the looks of him, motioned towards Harry and Ron.

"Tie them up and drag them," he said, in a commanding tone. Harry and Ron were attacked, tied, and gagged. Then they were dragged with the rest of the people. Harry was knocked out when his head was thrown against a stone floor.

He woke up dizzy, tired, and hungry. Really hungry. Food had been preserved, and rather scarce. Suddenly an Elf, a very beautiful Elf, was leaning over him, staring at him.

That is an odd enough feeling when you're totally awake, but Harry was not. "Bloody hell!" he yelled. The tall, blond, beautiful Elf Lady smiled.

"What are you?" she asked.

"What the hell are _you_? Lord, Christ and all that's mighty! Sneaking up on a man barely awake! Gah!" Harry said, sitting up. He heard a few shocked gasps.

"That's it, I'm taking his head off!" Aragorn held Gimli back.

"No! Gimli! Don't!" Aragorn said. The Dwarf had his axe raised above his head, ready to behead Harry.

"You, Harry Potter, shall be forever known as Dolosus. It means crafty, sly, cunning, and deceitful." Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Lovely. That is no Elvish you speak, is it? No, it is of another place. It is a language of Men." Ron was sitting next to Harry, awake now.

"Dude, I think we've been found out." Harry glared at him for all life was worth. "Well, it's true. Why else would they call you a deceiver?"

"Ron, you fck-wit, shut up," Harry growled. Harry turned back to lady Galadriel. "As for your earlier question, I am a wizard, of Elven descent. My friend, Ron, is just a wizard. As far as we know, he is a pureblood, and I am a first generation pureblood, or a halfblood. Wizard, that is."

"So you are not brothers?" Aragorn asked. Harry shook his head.

"But! He is dating my sister, so… Close enough! We've known each other for little more than… five years. Since our first day of school," Ron said.

"Your mothers mother was an Elf, young Potter. If I am not mistaken, you are a direct descendant of Lord Elrond, in fact," Galadriel said.

"But none of Elrond's children have children!" protested Aragorn.

"Not yet, they don't," Ron said. He then glared at Harry, and pushed him. "Why the hell do you get all the cool ancestors? James Potter! Lord Elrond! Are you related to Merlin, perhaps? Bugger it all, you probably are, with your magical power!" Ron then spent the next five minutes describing Harry's immense power to the, now seated, people gathered around them. "And he got a corporeal patronus, at thirteen! He will be the most powerful wizard alive, as soon as Dumbledore kicks the bucket!" Ron exclaimed, cheerfully.

Legolas raised an eyebrow. "What is a patronus?" the Elf asked. Harry raised his wand, and with a lazy movement, a great, bright white stag erupted from the tip, galloping around the room a few times, before disappearing.

"Patronus: Protector. It is of the same language that I was given a name from. That shape will save a person from Dementors. Before you ask, a Dementor is a dark spirit thing. It feeds off of the happiness of its victims. If able, it will suck its victims soul out of his, or her, mouth. The victim will live, but be merely a shadow of their former selves." Harry drew a breath.

"Would it work against Ringwraiths?" Legolas asked. Harry shrugged.

"It could. Or I could just light the Buggers on fire and laugh hysterically," Harry said. Harry then burst into laughter. Ron shook his head.

"Sorry, he's been a little off since his godfather was murdered by his own cousin, on orders from the Dark Lord, who is hell bent on killing Harry," Ron explained.

"_Sauron_ wants to kill _Harry_?" Pippin asked, startled.

"Goodness, no," Harry said, finally stopping laughing. "Voldemort. He tried to kill me when I was a year old, but he failed miserably, and ended up killing himself. Thirteen years later, two years ago, he came back. Now he wants to kill me, because I've severely wounded his pride. Even more so, after first year," Harry said.

Ron explained about the sorcerers stone, and Aragorn stared at Harry sharply, suddenly.

"You chose to remain mortal, when you had the chance at immortality?" the ranger asked. Harry snorted.

"I did not wish to be immortal. I was eleven, I'd never questioned my mortality. Death was no more than a myth to me, at that age. I do not regret my decision, Aragorn," Harry said. Galadriel laughed lightly.

"You are immortal, young Potter," she said softly. Harry whirled about, cracking his back painfully.

"Run that one by me again, please?" both he and Ron said. "For some reason, it almost sounded like you said immortal."

"That I did. He will live forever, if he is not killed." Harry snorted.

"Have we forgotten the whole 'mass bloody murderer after my skin' thing? And now with these g'damned Orcs Voldemort is making-" Aragorn, Boromir, and Legolas interrupted him.

"What?" they screamed, hissed, and whispered.

Ron explained it all. To make things easier, he just explained the life stories of both of them, leaving out the fact that they were both avid Lord of the Rings fans. His audience was captivated, to say the least.

For the rest of the night, the fellowship kept giving them strange looks.

They were to set out the next morning. The Lady Galadriel gave them each a gift. Ron received a beautiful fighting knife, intricately carved with symbols he couldn't read.

Merry and Pippin got dagger type things. Harry wasn't a big fan of weapons of any sort, so he could not really name them correctly. Legolas was given a bow, Frodo a light candle… thing. Sam got a box. He looked very excited about it, too.

Harry didn't see what Aragorn received.

The fair Lady stopped, finally, in front of Harry and Gimli. She looked them over. "I have nothing for either of you, I'm afraid. What would a brave Dwarf, and a noble Elfling ask of me?" Gimli turned red and asked for one hair from her golden head. She gave him three.

"I ask of nothing," Harry said. Galadriel raised an eyebrow.

"Then I can give you only advice. Give it to him, you won't regret it. Also, you are vincible, don't believe you aren't." Harry nodded confused. He turned to Frodo, and sighed. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his fathers invisibility cloak.

"Frodo, it pains me to say it, but I think you'll need this." He handed it to the hobbit.

"No way!" Ron breathed. "You can't be serious, Harry. You hold that thing tighter than you hold your own life!"

"I hold a lot of things tighter than my own life, Ronnie. Frodo needs it more than I do, and I've charmed it to be damn near indestructible." Ron snorted loudly.

"Yes, you've probably fireproofed it, cast a few object repelling charms, notice me not's, and a powerful imperturbable charm. Did I miss anything?" Ron asked sarcastically.

"The tracking charm, the audio charm, and it can be summoned from anywhere in the world," Harry said triumphantly.

"F_reak_," Ron muttered.

"Get in the damn boat, Weasel," Harry snapped. He turned back to Frodo. "This cloak will make you invisible when ever you put it on. It should cover at least you and Sam. Ron and I could fit under it together for a while, and we were each a foot taller that you, so… Yes, please, don't let too much harm come to it. It was my fathers." With that, Harry quickly hopped into a boat with Ron.

"That one stung, didn't it, Harry?" Ron asked. Harry slapped the back of his friends head.

"Shut up and _row_, Weasley," he growled.

Ron rolled his eyes, but rowed any way.

He, in all honesty, thought his best mate was acting odd. All summer Harry had been acting too happy. His damned godfather had been killed, right in front of him! Harry was an enigma, he really was.

Ron worried a lot for him. It's not like Ron wanted his friend to wither away and become emotionless, he just wanted him to be… normal? No, that would never work. Harry just is not normal. Ever. It was like his antibodies repelled all things normal.

"Ron, we're going to tip-" Harry tried to say, right before the boat tipped over.

Harry was not a good swimmer, especially when he didn't have fins and gills. The cold of the water shocked him pretty bad. His glasses fell out of his pocket where he had been keeping them, and they disappeared into the depths of the water.

Latching onto the capsized boat, he pulled himself up. "Damn it!" he roared. Ron, who had come up right before him, looked at him oddly. "Lost my glasses."

"Thank Merlin! Those things were atrocious!" Ron declared happily. They righted the boat, and got back in. Harry smiled at his, slightly blurry, friend.

"I know." It had been hard to navigate around middle earth with his horrid vision. Things came into focus only if he concentrated really hard. That wasn't easy to do all waking hours of the day.

"Are you two alright?" called Aragorn's voice.

"Harry tipped us. But I saved us," Ron replied. Harry glared at Ron venomously. "Kidding!"

They got to shore some time later. Ron collapsed, rather loudly, onto the ground. Harry walked around a little, trying to closely observe his surroundings. In all reality he was finding escape routes. At some point, he didn't really know when, he had become a little paranoid.

He started humming to himself, and yet was not surprised when Legolas tapped his shoulder. "Harry? Can you go get some wood, for a fire?" he asked in a soft voice.

"Sure, I'll be back in a minute," replied Harry. He walked off a little, into the woods.

Well g'damn! He was surrounded by firewood! It littered the ground like fallen leaves in autumn. He gathered enough for a fire, when an arrow whistled by his head. For some reason, he felt that 'I'm too gorgeous,' would not be a good thing to say at the moment. He turned around.

Ten Uruk-Hai stood before him. "Just bloody marvelous." Yells, and a horn blowing, told Harry that he was not the only one under attack.

These beast like …_things_… raised swords, so, instinctively, Harry did the same. They charged him. He didn't have any idea where it came from, but Harry had all ten down within fifteen minutes, but they got him, too. He had an arrow stuck in his shoulder.

He ran through the woods as fast as he could, until he came to a small clearing. Boromir was laying against a log, pale and bleeding from several arrows to the chest.

"T-they took the little ones," the man said quietly. Harry went and knelt next to Aragorn, in front of Boromir. "lovely, the last thing I see before I die will be him."

"I could heal you, y'know. I'm a natural healer, Boromir," Harry said. Boromir gave him an odd look.

"It's my time, kid. Do me a favor, though?" Boromir asked Harry his favor, which Harry readily agreed to.

"I will just pretend I didn't hear that…" Aragorn said. Harry gave him a few minutes alone with Boromir, and then the man was gone. Boromir had died. Aragorn, Legolas Harry, Ron, and Gimli walked back to the shore.

"There are only three boats left," Legolas noted.

"Sam and Frodo took the other two, I'd bet," Ron said. He turned to look at Harry. "Harry, you crazy! Your shoulder is bleeding."

"Really? Look, Ron! Your hair is red!" Harry said, smirking at Ron, who had instantly grabbed his head. "Aragorn, we must go after Merry and Pippin."

"Right! Off we are, then. Gimli, are you up for the march?" Aragon asked. The dwarf snorted, indignant.

He was not so sure of himself three days later. Huffing and puffing, he ended twenty feet behind the other four.

"We dwarves are natural sprinter! Very dangerous over short distances!" Gimli shouted, his voice wheezing.

"I'm sure you are, Gimli!" Ron called back. "And I am king of France," Ron muttered to Harry, quietly. Harry snorted.

"King of French fries, maybe," Harry replied.

"I resent that," Ron grumbled. "Keep running, Potter. Gryffindor needs their star Seeker in shape. We will not loose this year, mate."

"Of course not. That would cause McGonagall to kill us all in the most painful way possible." Ron burst out laughing. Sure, McGonagall was strict, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione were just about the only students to really know how much she really cared.

"Funny… HAHAHA… mental… HEHEHE… images!" Ron said. Ron started running backwards, so he could see Gimli. "Do keep up, Gimli! You're missing everything!"

Harry could tell that the Dwarf was glaring at Ron, and was holding his axe a little tighter than he usually did. "Ron! Do you remember in third year, at Christmas? Trelawney predicted our death, and McGonagall said something about a mad axe man?" Harry asked. Ron attempted running faster, but he tripped over a stray bush in the path way.

Harry helped him up, but didn't stop laughing about it for a good mile.

His lungs began to burn, and his lack of vision was giving him a headache. They finally came to a halt, but that was only because the Riders of Rohan were surrounding them at spear point.

"And what business do an Elf, a Man, a Dwarf, and two… boys have in the mark?" one man on a horse asked. Harry knew it was Eomer. Ron didn't, though, because he hadn't finished the first book. Harry hadn't gotten to the third, though he had seen all the movies.

"Give me your name, horsemaster, and I shall give you mine," Gimli announced. Eomer leapt off his horse and glared down to Gimli.

"I would cut off your head, Dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground." Legolas had his bow out and loaded before Harry could blink.

"G'damn!" Ron exclaimed.

"You would die before your stroke fell!" Legolas challenged. Aragorn pushed Legolas' arrow out of a glaring Eomer's face.

"Not the best idea, Legolas," Harry muttered. "You can't go and kill King Theonden's nephew. It would be decidedly stupid."

"King Theoden?" Legolas asked, in awe. Eomer snorted.

"I have been banished from Rohan, with death being my welcome, if I return. Answer my question. What business do you have here?" Eomer asked.

"We seek two Hobbits of the Shire. They were abducted by a group of them smelly little Orcy things," Harry said. Eomer raised an eyebrow.

"The Uruk's are gone. We slaughtered them in the night. We piled the carcasses and burned them, as is our custom," Eomer said softly. Gimli looked horror struck.

"Dead?" the Dwarfs tone was sad and defeated. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Thank you, Riders. Now, unless you have four horses we could borrow, we no longer have need of your assistance. Please continue on with your business," Ron said boldly.

They were given four horses, and they made their way towards the pile of burning carcasses. Gimli found the belt of one of the Hobbits in the pile of burnt Orc.

"Mmmm. Barbeque," Harry muttered. "Ron, would you like a leg or a thigh?"

"Shut up, you dolt," Ron snapped. Harry smirked, shrugged, and continued circling the pile of bodies. The revolting, stomach churning stench of burning flesh tore through Harry's nasal passages, making him want to vomit.

Not that he would do such a thing, but hey.

Aragorn began tracking the 'last moments of the lives of Merry and Pippin', and led them right to Fangorn forest. They entered the dark, damn, evil looking forest. Gimli was more than a little reluctant.

"Gimli! Lower your axe, the trees do not like it. They are talking to each other!" Harry hissed.

"What could trees have to talk about, hmm? Besides the consistency of squirrel droppings," Gimli said irritably.

"Aragorn, someone approaches," Legolas said softly. Ron, who was right next to Legolas, raised and eyebrow.

"Common speech, dude. We may all want to know what you're saying," Ron spat. Harry raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"Wait, Ron, you couldn't understand what he said?" Harry asked, confused. Harry had understood perfectly.

"I don't speak Elf, Harry! Neither do you.. do you?" Ron asked. Harry nodded, blankly. Then he smiled brightly.

"Man! It's great to be me! I know three languages, and I only had to learn one!" Harry exclaimed.

"Aragorn, the white wizard approaches!" Legolas said, in Common Speech. Aragorn nodded.

"Do not give him time to speak. He will cast a spell upon us." Ron both snorted at Aragorn's comment.

"Yes, I'm sooo sure. Not even Dumbledore can do that," Ron said. Harry shook his head, and Ron tilted his in confusion.

"Yea, he can. Yeh ever wonder just why it is you have the need to trust him as soon as you meet him? Yea, that's why," Harry said. Ron gaped.

A tall figure, clad all in white, appeared to the left of Legolas. The figure appeared to actually be giving off a bright, blinding light.

"Yo, Whitey! Turn down the sun!" Harry yelled, covering his eyes with a hand. Aragorn turned to glare at him momentarily. Harry smiled sweetly in return.

"Show yourself!" snapped Aragorn. The light receded, showing Gandalf the… White? "Gandalf? But it cannot be! Y-you fell?"

"Aye. He fell. He's alive. Can we scurry off to Edoras now?" Harry asked, irritated. All he wanted was a shower, and a warm bed. Is that so bloody much to ask for?

"You're very impatient, young Harry," Gandalf said. Harry sighed.

"This place is giving me the heebie jeebies," Harry admitted. Ron gave him an odd look.

"Is that a word?" Ron asked. Harry glared at him.

"Of course it's a word. Why would I say it if it's not a word? I can't believe you've never heard of the heebie jeebies. Were have you been for the last sixteen years, Ronald?" Harry asked, in an annoyingly superior tone that Draco Malfoy constantly used.

"Let Gandalf first explain where he has been. Come on, Gandalf, tell us then," Gimli sat on a nearby rock. Gandalf shifted his white staff from his right hand to his left, and also sat on a nearby rock.

Harry tuned out the explanation, as he already knew about it, in favor of listening for animals. Hungry animals.

The tree canopies refused to let light in, day or night, so it was consistently dark. While not afraid of the dark, it made Harry weary. Because of his already poor vision, he didn't see well at all in the dark.

Ron, on the other hand, kept seeing things moving around his feet. Damn his terrible fear of spiders! Couldn't he be afraid of something normal, like clowns? Harry shuddered at the thought. Clowns… ew.

Harry thought for a few more minutes, then he noticed Ron had wandered off. Before Harry had much time to wonder where his best friend was, a blood curling scream echoed somewhere in the forest.

"HARRY!"

* * *

I thought about continuing the chapter… but… no. I still have more written, though, almost half another chapter. I really should learn occlumency. I need to organize my thoughts…

Cookies to anybody who can guess what happens next! I've had this next part planned the longest. I can't wait!

**LAST MINUTE DESCISION**! What should Harry's animagus form be?

Lion, Tiger, Cheetah, Jaguar, or Panther. I can't decide, and It's important. Ron needs one too, and I can't even think of a proper type of animal to choose from. (I want Harry to be a predatory cat.)

Leave a review and let me know, please! Lion is default, if I get no votes!

MountainDew-IsDeadly. (It is. I've had two …or three… bottles today.)


	7. Animagus, Meetings, and Merlin

I'M BAAAAAAACK! Why did no one inform me that I had been gone for two months? HMPH. Here is a twenty page chapter to make up for the lack of updating.

By The Way: I still don't own it. _Damn_.

The votes are in. Harry will be a panther, and later a phoenix. Ron will be a lion, and will later become… a weasel. Mwahahaha. Thanks go to **EvenstArwen** for the idea. It even goes with the plot… Yes, there is a plot.

Harry heard his best friend scream his name, and he damn near had a panic attack. Thinking back on the book about occlumency he had read, he cleared his head of all panicked thoughts. He would deal with those later.

He followed the yell as best he could. His companions had leapt to their feet, and were also helping him look. He passed numerous trees, and his thoughts became darker and darker with each passing.

Another terrified yell. It was closer! Really close! Harry broke into a run, and stopped dead. A werewolf, a bloody WEREWOLF was glaring at a frightened Ron hungrily. Harry did a quick scan, and saw that, while scratched, Ron had not been bitten.

Occlumency be damned! Harry was panicking. Doing something nobody would do in a normal frame of mind, Harry attempted a full animagus form for the first time.

He and Ron had been practicing all summer, secluding themselves in their room. They each had only attempted the body, never the head, arms, or legs. All Harry knew about it was that he was blue-ish black, and had fur. Helpful.

Concentrating with all his might, which is not much considering he's a sixteen year old male, he slowly turned into his animal. The werewolf was slowly closing in on Ron. It leapt, and so did Harry. With a mighty growl, he jumped on the werewolf.

It snapped its strong jaws at him, and the fight began. Harry felt the claws of the man-wolf scratch his face, and tear painfully at his chest. Harry retaliated by clawing and biting his opponent.

Ron watched in horror as a panther leapt onto the werewolf that had tried to kill him. Then it hit him. It was Harry.

FlashBack-

_Harry and Ron were sitting in their room, in the clear area between the beds. Harry had his torso transformed into that of what looked to be a panther. "Bloody awesome, mate!" Ron exclaimed._

_A knock at the door sounded, and Harry looked panicked. "Yes, who's calling?" Ron watched his best mate call out. Ron rolled his eyes and added to the statement. _

"_He means… We're not in right now, please leave a message after the beep…" Ron deliberately left the statement open, hoping the person would go away. No such luck. The distinctly heard an unlocking charm. _

"_Oi! Bloody hell!" Harry dove under the bed with an agility that shocked Ron. Albus Dumbledore entered the room. _

"_Ronald, where is Harry?" Dumbledore asked. Ron looked over to under Harry's bed._

"_Hiding under his bed," he answered, completely honest. _

"_Don't make me sound like a bloody coward, Ronald Bilius Weasley!" Harry shouted. Ron could see it now 'Harry Potter, hides under bed,'_

_Ron mentally laughed._

End Flashback.

They hadn't been caught, and both had laughed about it later.

But Ron wasn't laughing now. Blood was being spilt. The blood of his best mate.

Now Ron felt like the Cowardly Lion. He had been attacked, and what had he done? He screamed like a bloody first year Hufflepuff girl, that's what he'd done! He hadn't even given thought to using his wand. Harry had had to come to his rescue. _Again_.

Sick of his own lack of bravery, Ron also attempted a full scale transformation. The last thing he saw before he shut his eyes was the werewolf attempting to rip out the panthers spinal cord with his teeth.

Ron became his animal, which he couldn't identify. All he new was that his claws looked sharp, and his teeth felt pointy when he ran his tongue across them. And his fur was an orange. What the hell was he?

Then it clicked. HE'S A LION! It was all surreal to Ron. Just weird.

Ron tackled the werewolf, and bit the things paw, hard. Harry staggered to his feet, and helped him finish off the werewolf. When they were sure it couldn't attack, they changed back to humans.

"Mooney doesn't find out about this," Harry said seriously. "I want to live at least to see the destruction of Voldemort. Wait! Ron, since we're spending a year here, would we be seventeen when we got back to Hogwarts?" Harry asked. Ron's face lit up.

"Bloody hell! You can go to Hogsmeade whenever you want as soon as you're seventeen! Bloody awesome! Let's go find the others, Harry." And they did.

It was halfway through the sorting feast when Hermione Granger finally blew her top. She stormed up to the head table, and slammed he hands down in front of Dumbledore. He looked startled for the briefest of seconds, before composing himself.

"Yes, miss Granger?" he asked, in his calmest tone.

"Where. Are. They?" she snarled. He took on another brief surprised look. "I TOLD YOU I WOULD BE FORCED TO **_HURT_** YOU IF THEY DIDN'T SHOW UP!" she screamed, her voice echoing in the hall many times.

Before the aged man could reply, a ringing bang came from the castle doors. Someone was knocking. Albus Dumbledore turned to see Hagrid sitting at the end of the table, so it couldn't be him.

"Open the damn door!" a voice rang out. It was a deep, harmonious tone. It also sounded powerful. Very powerful. Albus stood and went to the door at a brisk pace. He could feel the eyes of all the students in the hall following him, like a hawk watching its prey. He exited the Great Hall, and went to the door. Standing a few feet from it, he called back-

"Who are you, and what business do you have with my school?" his voice matched the other person in power.

"Listen, old man, it's raining like the heavens have been torn apart. Open the door, or I'm charging it," the same voice demanded. Another voice entered the conversation. This one was just as deep, but it didn't have the same power to it.

"Last time you did that, you broke your shoulder," the other man said.

"Last time I did that, I didn't know there were fifty armed men reinforcing the door, either. That changes the plan a bit," the first man said, his tone never wavering from calm. "Open the door."

"Albus! Don't open that door!" Minerva said, her Scottish accent coming out, a sign of her worry. Albus looked from her, back to the door.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Albus asked, his tone cold.

"Open the door, right now, old man, or I will be sure to publish the pictures I have of you and McGonagall in a broom closet." Albus was sure he had turned bright red, and Minerva had, too. A few students in the hall started whispering. Albus now knew exactly who was on the other side of that door.

"Mr. Potter, I believe we discussed _burning_ those," Albus said. A deep laugh came through the door.

"And you thought I would pass it up. _As if_. Now open the door," Harry said. Albus flicked his wand, and the doors opened with a grace one would not think of in relation to the old worn down doors.

He saw Harry Potter and Ron Weasley looking at him, thought they were hooded and cloaked. All he could see was their eyes. Ron's were a rich honey brown color, and they displayed intelligence, and a rather stunning amount of power. They had flecks of gold in them.

Harry's were different, too. He still had his mothers brilliant green eyes, but they spoke of a intelligence, knowledge, and power that Lily's had never achieved. They were calm, yet raging with a power that even Albus had trouble comprehending. They were simply stunning. His eyes were flecked with gold, but also a small bit of white.

"Oo. Feast," Ron said, walking quickly to the Gryffindor table. Albus noticed that the boy held himself differently than he had the day before. He kept his back straight, and his chin up. He also had a grace that made it look as if he were floating. Ron was also bigger. He stood at the same height as Albus himself now.

"Ronald Weasley, are you even going to say hi to me?" Hermione asked. Ron looked up from his plate, and his eyes lit up like the sun.

"HERMIONE!" he bellowed, actually leaping clear over the table to take her in his arms. "I've missed you," he said, pulling her into a kiss.

"Ew! Gross!" a few first and second years exclaimed. Hermione started giggling suddenly.

"Ronniekins? Do you have a _beard_?" she asked. She pulled down his hood, and sure enough, he had a goatee. His hair had changed. It was no longer bright Weasley Red, but a dark blood red, as was his goatee.

"Why, I believe I do," he said. "Would you like me to get rid of it?" She shook her head quickly. "Good. Because I won't."

"Now I want to see what Harry looks like," Ginny said.

"Same old hag he's always looked like," Ron said indifferently. Ginny slapped his arm on the way by, but stopped and grabbed his arm.

"What is this?" she asked, in a mocking tone. "Does my long and lanky brother finally have muscles?"

"If you think that's amazing, you should see Harry. He looks carved out of a mountain. His cloak hides it, though," Ron said, grinning back at Harry. His best friend scowled at him.

"Out with it, Harry," growled Ginny. Harry carefully lowered his hood, revealing a goatee that was just a bit longer than Ron's. He took the cloak off fully, and he was wearing the same clothes as the day he had left, only they were now bigger. They needed to be, to accommodate his muscles. Not bulky, overbearing muscles, but toned, defined muscles. "Oh. My. God. He's _ripped_! Have you been weightlifting, like, _trolls_?" Ginny asked. Harry grinned slightly.

"No. This came entirely from eating broccoli and carrots," Harry said. Albus noted that a few boys inconspicuously pulled plates of vegetables towards themselves. "But right now I feel as if I could eat my horse, so I'm eating now," Harry said, moving to sit down. Ron sat next to him.

"Bet I could eat a whole turkey before you could, mate," Ron said to him. Albus motioned for Minerva to meet him in his office. She nodded, and he made his way to the seventh floor.

"That's just gross," Hermione and Ginny both said. Their boyfriends were eating turkey. Not just a little piece. They were each eating a whole turkey. Ginny had nearly lost her dinner when they crunched down on the bones, too.

Harry finished first.

"You do know that that is disgusting and unhealthy on _soo_ many levels, don't you?" Hermione asked. Harry looked at her, and gave a small grin.

"You learn to appreciate food when you have to kill it yourself," he said, smirking.

"Okay. Never say that _to_ me, or _near_ me, again, or I will _hurt_ you," Hermione said.

"Ay, Harry," Seamus said, his Irish accent faint. It sounded strange, actually. "What _is_ on your face?"

"Seamus, bugger off," Harry growled. "And don't be jealous, just because _you_ haven't hit puberty yet."

"Oi! I'll have you now that I'm older than you! By three months," Seamus said.

"And I'm bigger, stronger, and smarter than you," Harry replied right back.

"Arsehole," Seamus muttered. Harry grinned.

"But you still love me," Harry said.

"Egotistical arsehole," Seamus said. Dean nodded.

"Looking good, Harry. No wonder Gin left me for you," Dean joked. Harry smiled at him.

"It wasn't that. It was the fact that you-"

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, I need to speak with you. The rest of you may go to your respective dormitories. I will make all important announcements at breakfast tomorrow. Good night," Dumbledore said, standing in the doorway. Harry and Ron looked at each other before standing.

"Stay here, boys," Dumbledore said quietly, walking up to them. He looked at Hermione and Ginny. "You two may also stay," he said, kindly. They nodded at him. McGonagall came up to them, too. She gave them her usual stern look, but a look of kindness was in her eyes that most students never got to see.

Harry and Ron gave her an exaggerated bow.

"Top o' the morning to yeh," they said, mimicking an Irish accent, for no apparent reason.

"That was random," Hermione said, eyeing them oddly.

"So is goat milk," her friends replied, both smirking at her. She huffed and rolled her eyes.

People started filling the Great Hall. They took seats at the one long table Dumbledore had conjured. Harry recognized them all as Order members he had seen over the summer.

The table was long and rectangular. Harry looked at Ron and smirked. Just as Dumbledore took is seat at the head of the table, they took out their wands.

People jumped when they were suddenly sitting at a round table, instead of a rectangle. They all turned accusatory glares at Harry and Ron. "Nobody is more important than anybody else. Except Mrs. Weasley. She is _undeniably_ thee most important person here," Harry said firmly, in a tone that was serious, not mocking. Molly Weasley blushed red.

"To start off our meeting, I would like to introduce our four newest members. Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter," Dumbledore announced. Most of the Order smiled at them, but a few frowned. Snape just glared.

"But they are so young!" one woman exclaimed.

"I'm fifteen!" Ginny said, indignant.

"Sixteen," Hermione said, looking at the woman with a slight frown.

"Seventeen!" Harry and Ron said happily. Thirty heads snapped in their direction.

"I consider myself a sane man, Potter. One who knows the year. It is well known that you were born in eighty. It is only ninety six. It is not possible for you to be seventeen yet," Snape sneered. Harry smirked at him.

"It is if I spent a year in another dimension!" Harry said. "The last _you _saw _me_ was twelve _hours_ ago. The last _I_ saw _you_ was twelve _months_ ago." Snapes glare faded a bit. "Moving on," Harry said, looking at Dumbledore.

"Right. Would you two care to explain how your training with the elves went?" Dumbledore asked. People around the table looked at them curiously.

"Well, your spell work could use a hell of a lot of work, that's for sure. You sent us right into the middle of a bloody war," Ron growled. "What better way to learn sword fighting than have actually enemies charging you, eh? The-Boy-Who-Lived-For-Blood did alright, though. He was cutting heads off with the best of 'em, he was. Didn't blink when he cut his enemy in half, did he? Nope," Ron said, looking at Harry. Harry gave a malicious grin.

"The head kept blinking after it was detached, too. Humorous, that was," Harry said.

Albus Dumbledore blinked. He had sent Harry to train in the art of sword fighting, not cold blooded killing. WOAH! Something went wrong, there. Change the subject, Albus!

"Anything else?" Albus asked. Harry and Ron looked at each other.

"Maybe we should show you, to avoid confusion," they said, wisely. Both stood up, wands pointed at the center of the table. "**_Memoria_**." Albus couldn't help but let his eyes widen. That was a spell he would have assumed was beyond both boys.

A shadowy mist spread around the table. It slowly solidified into the three dimensional figure of a memory. A stone castle, one that appeared to be carved out of a mountain, was visible. Harry zoomed the picture, so that it focused on three people in particular. Himself, Ron, and a man who looked remarkably like Sirius.

"Helm's Deep," both boys informed the Order, who watched with rapt attention.

Memory 

"Harry, do you think we're going to die?" Ron whispered to his friend, looking ahead of himself.

" 'Course we are!" Harry said cheerfully. "We just has to hope it happens in a good thousand or so years! Mortality is what you make it."

"_Says the one that is immortal," Ron mumbled. Harry slapped his back, grinning broadly. _

"_That's the spirit! Just don't be an idiot and get yourself killed!" _

"_You two are entirely too happy right now," the Sirius looking man said to them. "You are staring at an army of ten thousand strong, coming at you. And you, greens eyes, are just laughing and having a merry time."_

"_Were you dropped on your head as a child, Harry?" Ron asked. Harry's face took on a thoughtful look, and his sword came under his chin. _

"_Most likely. But I've taken a few nasty spills this summer, too. Like when I fell down the stairs, my trunk hit my head. And then you pushed me off the horse…" Harry trailed off. He turned to the man you looked like his godfather. "And you, Aragorn, are entirely too depressed. The enemy is powerful, yes. Power will not stand down, only will it do so in the face of more power. We are more powerful," Harry said. _

"_No, Harry, you're more powerful. And luckier, too," Ron said, rolling his eyes. _

"_We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?" Harry said, his eyes glinting towards and area unseen to the picture. Ron rolled his eyes, again. _

"_Harry, say something," Aragorn said. "Say something to these men. Make them believe we will be victorious. I know you can do that," Aragorn said, looking at Harry with near pleading eyes. "I can give them words of encouragement. You can give them courage." _

_Harry stood on the merlon of the battlement, and looked at the gathered men. "So! Who is throwing the after battle party? After we slaughter these orc things, we're going to need to celebrate! The ale is on King Theoden, of course! So, party in the keep after this little battle, where we will all get roaring drunk and sing like there were no woman in the area!" Harry yelled. A cheer went up as countless people in armor welcomed that idea. Harry jumped down next to Ron, and the picture of the memory swiveled, showing the back of their heads. _

_Thousands upon thousands of dark figures are but twenty feet from the castle, and then they stop. A roar of banging and yelling are heard from the creatures. They are hitting there first against there impossibly strong armor. They are roaring with a fury and… arrogance. _

_Ron growls, in a perfect match to a lion, and draws his sword. Harry's face is shown for a brief moment, and his eyes had an emotion that would make war veterans weep like toddlers. That fact that Harry actually licked his lips made it worse. He wanted to kill. He was in the mood to see blood dripping from his sword. He wanted death. _

_Suddenly Harry stooped and picked up a rock. He threw it at one of the Orcs, hitting them right in the neck. A bleeding gash appears, and a very noticeable wheeze comes from the one struck. It falls foreword, landing in the mud with a splat. Harry grins, and alarming, deadly grin. _

_The Orcs roar with rage, and charge. Arrows are fired, and returned. Harry is struck in the shoulder by an arrow, and Ron looks murderous. Suddenly he is no longer Ron, but a large lion, with gold fur and a red main. His roar causes the actual battlements to quiver in fear. Most of the Orcs freeze, but quickly resume fighting._

_A squelching sound announces that Harry pulled the arrow from his wound, but when he returns into view, he is not Harry. He is a black panther, large and angry. _

_The panther jumps to the edge of the battlement, and prowls on top. The soldiers on the battlement pause in confusion as he stalks by, right in front of them, at their eyelevel. Suddenly the panther leapt down, and free fell forty feet, hitting the ground on all fours. _

_He went forward, and lunged at the nearest enemy, succeeding in tearing the creatures throat out with his teeth. He growls, his green eyes alight with rage, and blood thirst, then he attacks again, and again. Blood is coating the front of him, and he is smiling in a panther type way, reveling in the death he was causing. _

_A lion appeared next to him, causing the same amount of destruction. Both were receiving a substantial amount of damage themselves, too. _

Memory 

The Order sat in shocked silence. Slowly, painfully slow, every head turned to stare at Harry and Ron. They grinned back. "So! That was one battle fought, and won. The next was in won, and… so was the third one. Harry, mate, I think our strategy worked all too well," Ron exclaimed happily.

"Kill first, ask questions later?" Harry asked, and eyebrow raised. "Yes, something could be learned from that. Maybe that simply stunning our opponent won't do jack for us. They can be revived, they can be unbound-"

"They can get drunk and start singing inappropriate songs-"

"I thought we agreed to never speak of that again!" Harry snapped, glaring at Ron.

"If you read the Brother Code of Conduct, that agreement was not official and not valid. But the story needs to be told in light of the recent dark times. We all need a good laugh, now and again. That was a knee slapper. I've put that in my memory right next to the incredible bouncing ferret," Ron said, sighing, lost in memory.

"What kind of songs?" Molly Weasley asked angrily.

" 'Scotty Doesn't Know', 'Stacy's Mom', 'Break Stuff,' 'Shut Up', 'I'm Just A Kid,' 'Too Hard For The Fuckin' Radio,' 'Hero,' and (my personal favorite) 'I Just Can't Wait To Be King'. The songs aren't necessarily dirty, per se, but seeing as no one in the room had any idea at all what on earth he was talking about, it was hilarious. The fact that he can actually sing made it worse," Ron grinned. Harry looked close to smacking him.

" 'Hero' happens to be a good song. And 'I'm Just A Kid', too," Harry defended himself.

" 'Me Against the World' suits you better, though," Ron pointed. "So does 'I Just Wanna Live'." Harry shook his head suddenly.

"Back to topic. Does anybody know what Voldemort is up to?" Harry asked. Many people jumped at the use of the name.

"Don't say his name!" Snape hissed.

"I didn't! I used his nick name. Say it with me now, Vol-dee-mort," Harry said calmly, announcing each syllable. "I could understand if his name was 'Imakillu', but. Come on, Voldemort?"

" 'Imakillu?" Ron asked. "What does that mean?"

"I'm going to kill you," Harry said simply. "But the freak got 'Voldemort by rearranging his given name. I could probably reenact the whole thing for you. Here's how it went. 'I am Lord… Hmm. What on earth do these letters make?' Now, after you cross out those letters, his name is left as 'Tom vo Rdle. Voldemort.' Ain't that fine and dandy?" Harry rolled his eyes. Snape hissed, but Harry hissed right back at him. "_I can say anything right now, and you'll cringe, won't you_?" Harry asked in parseltongue.

Snape did indeed cringe away slightly.

"We need to discuss the issue over Lucius Malfoy," Dumbledore said. Heads turned to look at him. "Three hours ago he was sentenced the Dementors Kiss. It will be performed tomorrow."

"Absolutely couldn't have asked for better news. One less enemy to worry about," Ron said firmly.

"Ronald, would you condemn a man, any man, to that?" Dumbledore asked sharply. Ron glared at him.

"Would you condemn his future victims to that? The children he would kill, the woman he would rape? The men he would torture? Is the life of one death eater more important than the lives of countless innocents? You may believe in second, third, and fourth chances, but I think that the Dementors Kiss is a mercy to Lucius Malfoy," Ron spat out, angry. Dumbledore reluctantly agreed. "Same goes for Bellatrix Lestrange."

Ron watched in amusement as Harry's eyes darted about, and he gave an animalistic growl. His normally solid green eyes turned red, then yellow, then white, and went back to green. His muscles seemed to remain tense.

"That never ceases to amuse me," Ron said. "Have you yet figured out how to get back at her?"

"Yes," Harry snarled, glaring at Ron. "On with this little meeting. Dumbledore, please continue."

"They have been sentenced to the Dementors Kiss. Certain people are allowed to lawfully use the killing curse in order to bring down people we are certain serve Voldemort. The Aurors, and the Order. I wish to have a ceremony tomorrow at dinner, to honor a few people. The lives of the convicted death eaters, and Sirius Black." Here, Dumbledore's eyes sparkle just a bit too much for any bodies well being. "And I would like Harry to make a speech," he said, calmly.

"Alright-" Harry jumped when Ron violently interrupted him.

"Bloody hell, no! Don't let him make a speech, it'll go on for DAYS!" Ron said, his eyes wide. You could almost feel his heart racing.

"Oh, bullocks. The longest speech I ever made was only four hours!" Harry growled, still pissed about the Lestrange comment.

"Anyway, don't let him make a speech. Ever," Ron said. Dumbledore merely smiled at him.

"You see, Ronald, I believe that Harry may help stop this silly house rivalry. Monday will be the first class he will teach-" Dumbledore was cut off by Ron repeatedly hitting his head against the table.

"Those poor, innocent children." The hundred gathered members of the Order stared at him. "Honestly, I'd rather learn tea etiquette from Voldemort himself, than sword fighting with Harry. He's a sadist, I'd bet my magic on it." Harry smirked.

"Who better to teach them," he almost purred, his voice deadly, "than me?"

"I, for one, feel I could teach it better," Snape said, his tone arrogant.

"You can't even properly teach your own subject. Don't pawn yourself onto others, Snape," Harry said, his tone even, but his eyes cold.

"Ooooh, _buuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrnnnnn_!" Ron said, drawing out the word. Snape glared at the pair of them.

"I'll have you know that, as a pureblood, I learned how to properly use swords from the age of three up," Snape sneered, looking down his crooked nose at both of them.

"You're as pureblood as I am, Snape. You're daddy was a _muggle_. In fact, my blood is purer than yours. So I can tell you _exactly_ where you can shove that blood purist prejudice. Two can play this game. So take you muggleness, and leave this meeting," Harry said coldly. Snape paled, even more than he normally was, but then he reared back as if slapped.

"How dare you insult my honor!" Snape roared. A few people in the room flinched, but Harry just stood up. Of course, he was six foot four, so he was a rather intimidating person.

"How dare you insult my skill!" Harry boomed, his voice resembling the voice of God himself. It caused dust to fall from the ceiling. People stared at him in a mix of awe and fear. "You may know how to swing a sword, but do you know how to extract a kidney out of a wound with the tip of the blade? Could you survive in a battle? I should think not!"

"Believe me, Potter, your skill in anything could never surpass me! You're nothing but a pathetic teenager, with an arrogance problem!" Snape said, his voice cold, and filled with hatred. Harry couldn't help but laugh openly.

"Let us examine the word 'arrogant', Snape. The dictionary definition is '_Having or displaying a sense of overbearing self-worth or self-importance. Marked by or arising from a feeling or assumption of one's superiority toward others'_. Now, let us take your first statement. 'Your skill in anything could never surpass me.' That sounds damn _arrogant_ to me," Harry snarled. Snape stood also, as did Dumbledore.

"Gentlemen! Stop this foolishness!" Albus barked. He was getting a headache. Two very angry people looked at him, glaring. "Sit down. Now. Ronald, please finish the story. What else happened?"

Ron continued, until he got to a certain point. His eyes glazed over, and his sentences fragmented. "Then we were attacked. That ended quickly. Harry and I were both hurt. We won. And then we made it out of that bloody forest-"

"How, Ronald, were you attacked?" Albus asked the red head. He paused, then looked at him. Albus nodded for the young man to continue.

"From behind," was the answer. "Bloody quiet, it was."

"And what, exactly, was _it_?" Albus asked the sweating man. He wanted to know exactly what had caused Ron to have the reaction he'd had.

"A werewolf. I had wandered off a bit, and it attacked me. I screamed bloody murder, and Harry found me. He managed a full animagus transformation, and tackled it. They started fighting, but Harry's spine was nearly torn out of his back. That was the first time I managed my full form, too. I, uh, think we killed it," Ron said softly.

"My spine still won't straighten fully," Harry added.

"He got a cool scar from it, though," Ron intoned. Harry nodded.

"Oooh! I want to see the scar!" Ginny said, her eyes dancing.

"You just want to see him without a shirt on," Tonks teased.

"Neither of you are… werewolves, are you?" Remus asked.

"Not in the technical sense, no," Harry replied. "But we can run and move faster, and our hearing, seeing, and smelling improved. To the where we can see magic."

"Damn. That is always hard to get used to," Remus said, his eyes shining slightly.

"Not so much. The only other person around us who could do magic was Gandalf-"

"Who?" Albus asked sharply. Harry looked at him, then repeated the name. Albus couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Dumbledore, we discussed this over the summer. Nothing was interesting then, you know," Harry said. "He's still the same tall, bearded dude, with a staff-"

"A staff, you say?" Harry nodded, wondering if Dumbledore had recently hit his head. "You do know, don't you, that the name Gandalf was used by some people, in the time of Merlin. They used it to refer to Merlin himself. Ron, Harry, I think you met Merlin," Albus said. Ron's eyes widened slightly, buy Harry showed no outward reaction.

"You'd think Merlin would be a bit more useful, wouldn't you?" Harry asked, rolling his eyes. "Couldn't even figure out a simple word puzzle, he couldn't. Speak 'friend' and enter. Bloody hell, anyone that doesn't understand that it meant 'mellon' is loony," Harry laughed.

"Please excuse an old man for having a bad day, then," came a gravelly voice Harry knew all too well.

"No. I don't think you are excused. Poor excuse for a genius…" Harry muttered. The Order turned to see five 'people' standing at the door. Harry and Ron recognized them instantly as Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, and-

"Yo! Eyebrows!" Harry and Ron exclaimed, looking at Elrond. The High Elf sighed, and seemed to slump (while still standing perfectly straight).

"Must you refer to me in such a manner?" he asked, scowling.

"All you do is scowl all day! Quit scowling, and we won't call you that anymore," Ron said. Elrond, _omigosh_, scowled at him.

"Boy, you certainly do know how to make a man scowl, don't you?" Aragorn asked. Dumbledore stood up, his face a mask of polite confusion.

"May I enquire as to who you are?" the headmaster asked politely. Elrond stepped foreword.

"I am Elrond, lord of Rivendell," Elrond replied. His hair, face, and eyes looked exactly the same, so Harry figured not a lot of time had passed since he left.

"I am Gimli, son of Glion," Gimli replied. Dumbledore nodded, looking thoughtful.

"I am Legolas, of the woodland realm," the tall blonde elf replied.

"Aragorn, son of Arathorn, King of Gondor," Aragorn said, his eyes resting on Harry and Ron, daring them to comment. They didn't.

"I am Gandalf the White." Simple man, that Gandalf. "I am, quite correctly, also known at one point as the Merlin of Britain." Harry's eyes widened now.

"You mean you're _that_ Merlin?! _And you didn't tell me_!? **Grrrrrrr**…" Harry let out an animalistic growl, on form for his Panther.

"Very mature, Harry. Very mature," Tonks said.

"In this life, I look foreword to continued immaturity, and then death," Harry replied, still glaring at GanMerdalflin.

"Wise words, for an idiot," Ron said.

"What business do you have with us?" Dumbledore asked, looking at Gandalf, as if expecting him to be the leader.

"We," Elrond started, "wish to help in your war effort. As Harry and Ron both helped us immensely, we wish to repay that. I've found out-"

"Through his amazingly annoying ability to now an amazingly annoying amount of _everything_," Harry and Ron said dramatically.

"-That there is a Prophecy binding two souls together in a fight for life and death. In all reality, we don't want Harry to be the one to die. Even though both of them spent just a little too much time around Bilbo for my liking, if they are now beginning to speak as him," Elrond said. Harry and Ron grinned innocently.

"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve," Ron said, still grinning.

"All that is gold does not glitter; not all that wander are lost," Harry said.

"I'm going to have a headache. Onto my first matter, I have seen much death and destruction in the near future for Harry. All preventable, of course, but seeing as it is Harry…" Elrond's voice drifted off.

"What is that supposed to mean, old man?" Harry growled.

"Beside the fact that you manage to cause death and destruction at least three times before breakfast?" Gimli mocked.

"Listen, _mini me_, I'm not in the mood for your incessant Dwarf Rambling," Harry snapped. Gimli looked highly affronted, but shut up anyway. Harry turned back to Elrond. "What else do you know?"

"That you will die," Elrond replied with little to no hesitation. Harry didn't even blink. "It will be caused by the treachery so great, none here can comprehend the sheer magnitude by which I speak. The only thing that will make it worse is that fact that the traitor won't know who, what, or how he is betraying," Elrond said.

"That is reassuring," Harry muttered. "Aut viam inveniam aut faciam," Harry said quietly. "Aut vincere aut mori."

"Um, Harry? English, mate," Ron said, looking at harry in confusion.

"Hm?" Harry asked. "Oh! I simply said, 'I will either find a way, or make one,' and 'Either conquer or die'," Harry said, waving it off with his right hand.

"You have a thing with languages the people around you don't know, don't you?" Ron asked, clearly annoyed.

"It amuses me to no end to see your confusion. For now, I need to sleep. I have a headache, now. Good night," said Harry, walking to the door. He turned when he was halfway through ,and smirked at Ron. "Veni, vidi, vici." And then he was gone.

"What the bleeding hell does that mean?" Ron grumbled.

"I came, I saw, I conquered," Albus replied to the confused teen. "Ronald, would you tell Harry I wish to speak to him before breakfast tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure. After I tear his head off. Stupid weirdo, always talking in riddles and codes…" Ron trailed off, as he walked out of the hall.

"He can't just walk out of a meeting!" Snape snapped. Elrond raised and eyebrow.

"You find, in time, that Harry runs things by his own schedule. He is quite an interesting person, when you get to know him," Elrond said, his tone cold. He was glaring at Severus.

"He is also the most powerful wizard I have ever come across," Gandalf said. Some people stared at him in shock. "He is. You've not seen him angry, have you? A beautiful morning, birds chirping, and the sun shining. Imagine this, now. Something happened that made Harry angry. Suddenly, the sky darkened, It began raining, and the castle we were in started shaking from the foundation up. I believe, if memory serve, that Ronald ended up cemented to the bottom of a lake after that."

"I'll tell you, it was not fun dealing with that," Aragorn said gruffly. "It's been two years, and I still smell of lake water."

"Showers generally work for that," Severus whispered, his quiet tone mocking. Aragorn looked them man over.

"Says you. I'm not even alive this century, and my hair is still clean. Of course, I am a king…" Aragorn was smirking now, an evil glint in his eye.

Albus sighed. It was another Sirius Black.

HACHYA! Twenty two pages!

Tell me if you liked it. Didn't like it. Hated it. Whatever.

**ALSO! Please tell me if anything needs to be cleared up. Everything makes sense to me, but I wrote it, so…**

MountainDewIsDeadly.


	8. Apologies and Speeches

In my world, I Do own Harry Potter. Sadly, in my world, the sky is also green all the time. So, no, in your demension, I don't own it.

And if I ever go two months without updating, I give you all permission to flame me.

* * *

Harry walked into the Great Hall next to Ron, the day after he had returned. Dumbledore was standing at the staff table, giving the promised announcements. 

"And the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher will be Remus Lupin." A small cheer went up, it was loudest at Gryffindor. Remus was smiling, and blushing a little. "Two new classes have been added to the curriculum. The are required for students fifth year and up, and optional for third and fourth years. Advanced Defense Against Dark Arts, and Weapons. Both of these classes will be taught by Harry Potter, assisted by Ron Weasley." This was not met by so much enthusiasm.

"That's a direct insult to our intelligence!" one Ravenclaw seventh year yelled. Ron pulled his wand.

"I'll show you an insult-" Harry placed a hand on Ron's arm, calming him. Harry stepped foreword, and walked right up to the seventh year. Before the boy could say anything, Harry had a sword pressed against the throat.

"What do you do now? Do you scream? Do you attack back? You have a knife in your hand! Use it! Curse me! Stab me!" Harry ordered. The boys eyes were wide, and he was sweating profusely. "You froze. An attack came, and what did he do? He bloody _froze_. We call that a deer caught by a hunter. It is one of the most unintelligent things you can do in a battle. The logic behind it is basically '_If I don't move, they can't see me_.' It does not work!" Harry stepped away from the other boy. "Have I insulted your intelligence yet? In most cases, to insult another persons intelligence, they must first have intelligence. Just from your reaction I can tell you are _un_intelligent."

"That kid'll need ice for that burn," Ron yelled. Harry sat beside Ron, glaring at the majority of the Hogwarts population.

"As you may have noticed, Mr. Potter is a master swordsman-"

"No, he just likes anything sharp, pointy, and murderous," Ron interrupted. Dumbledore ignored him.

"And he will mainly be teaching Swords. As for the defense class, he will be teaching Dueling, Healing, Wandless Magic, and mostly Auror level curses. Mr. Potter has informed me that it will be a mostly physical class, and that running clothes are required. He-"

"Oh! Let me do it, you crazy old man!" Harry said. "The class will test not only your magical capabilities, but you physical capabilities as well. None of you would last in a duel if it went over ten minutes. The longest I've ever lasted in was six hours, twelve minutes, and fifty two seconds. I won, of course, because the lazy _ass_ I was dueling collapsed. Increased stamina helps dueling, as well as almost every other aspect of your life," Harry said.

"Your teaching Slytherins, too?" a Ravenclaw asked. Harry was quickly becoming fed up with Ravenclaws. "But they'll just use it to kill light wizards!"

"Personally, I do not care _who_ you kill. I get paid either way," Harry said, shrugging. Hermione punched his shoulder, Hard.

"Harry, that's cruel!" Hermione shrieked.

"That's life," Harry replied. "Anybody that can't stand being with Slytherins, well, they don't have to go to class. As it is required, they will just have to go through life, knowing they got a 'T' in the exams. And I'll make sure that everybody who fails my class can get any job in the Wizarding world," Harry finished.

"And the other shoe falls," Ron said. Hermione stared at him. Harry sat down, and began buttering toast. Hermione leaned over to him and whispered in his ear.

"Can you really do that?"

"Probably not." Hermione grinned, and it almost could have been considered evil.

"You're a menace to society as whole," Ginny said, rolling her eyes.

"No, I'm just a freak who likes death metal." Harry stood and left the hall, leaving behind two very confused girls, and a house full of terrified, twitching Ravenclaws.

Lunch was an altogether different affair. Since September second happened to land on a Saturday, they didn't have any classes yet. Harry sat down, listening to music.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny sat down around him a moment later. Harry suddenly thought of something, stood up, and sprinted out of the room

"He is an odd one, isn't he?" Ginny asked.

"But he's loaded. Wait, Harry, come back here," Ron said. Harry barely heard it, and turned around. "Are you playing Quidditch this year?"

"No. I-" Harry couldn't begin to explain, as people from Gryffindor began hurling food at him. Most of it hit him, but, being of Elven descent, it didn't leave any trace of anything on him. "**_FREEZE_**!" Harry yelled. Everybody in the hall found that they were totally unable to move. "Now, let me explain. I will not be playing Quidditch this year, because between fourteen classes, and two more to teach, I will not have the time to play," Harry said calmly. He unfroze everybody, and all of Gryffindor glared at him, while the Slytherins cheered.

"Traitor! You bloody traitor!" Seamus yelled. Most people in the house agreed with the Irish boy. "You're going to let Slytherin beat us!"

"Here's a novel idea. If you don't want Slytherin to beat you, try actually practicing. You can't rely on one person to win any game," Harry said, scornfully.

"He thinks he's better than us!" Dean Thomas roared, standing up.

"No. I'm simply saying that you put too much stock behind one player on the team. It takes two to tango. And it takes seven to win a Quidditch game." Harry began walking out of the hall again. "Man, why must I do everything?"

"Harry, all you do is sit and complain about the people around you all day," Ron called, chasing his friend out of the hall.

The first class Harry taught was on the next Monday, at six in the morning. Dumbledore had volunteered to observe the class. Harry was waiting impatiently for people to enter the Great Hall, where the class was to take place. The last people entered the room.

"You're late!" Harry barked at them. The looked at him, confused.

"It's just now six in the morning!" exclaimed Padma Patil.

"You're on time if you're five minutes early. You're late if you're on time. Get here on time tomorrow!" Harry ordered. The three sixth year girls looked horrified.

"You mean to say that this class is at six, _every_ morning?!" Parvati Patil nearly screamed. "Do you know how early this is?"

"I am well aware of the position the sun holds in the sky at the present time. But imagine this. Voldemort will not attack when we're eating in the Great Hall. He will attack when we are asleep in our beds, naïve to the world around us. Sleep is the time when we are the most vulnerable. If you can minimize your sleep requirement, while increasing your energy levels, lack of sleep will be no issue. I sleep four hours a day, at the most.

"On to more important matters. I want everybody to remove anything that signifies a house. Anybody that walks into this class displaying house colors will have those colors turned into an obnoxious mix of pink and puke green. For a week. Line up alphabetically, starting with Abbott. **_MOVE_**!" Harry barked when nobody saw fit to follow his command.

The students lined up around the hall, in twelve lines. Harry made sure everybody was there, before beginning. He was standing on a raised platform where the teachers usually ate, with Ron right beside him.

"Right, for the first hour, we'll work on dueling. Can anybody tell me the first rule of dueling?" Harry asked. Terry Boot raised his hand, looking excited. Harry called on him.

"Always bow," the Ravenclaw answered. Harry smiled, but shook his head.

"Close, but no. The first rule is to never duel somebody you know you can't beat. So, right now, Ron and I will pair you off. You partner will not be from your house, nor will it be someone we know you are friends with already. If you can't work together, you won't work at all," Harry said, and he and Ron began the pairing off.

In the end, both teachers were getting very angry, disgruntled looks. Malfoy didn't seem to like the fact that he was working with Luna Lovegood. Harry and Ron both once again stood on the platform.

"Good, now to stretch," Harry said happily. Ron rolled his eyes. "Another goal of this class is to increase flexibility. The further you can stretch, the better you'll do in a duel."

Ron and Harry led the class through a set of stretches, causing most of the students to glare. Harry jumped up.

"Right then. Now, Ron and I will show you a duel, as an example." Before Harry could turn around, Ron sent a curse at his back. He felt it coming, and he ducked, stuck out his leg, and then spun around. Ron was knocked of balance, and fell over.

Both were able to get back up, and curses, hexes, and jinxes were sent at a mind boggling speed. Not one word was uttered by either. A curse, that would have hit Harry in the stomach, was sent right at him. He leaned back, so that his back and legs were nearly parallel. His head was only inches above the ground. His legs flipped over after his head, and he stood wand pointed at Ron.

A few of the students gasped.

As the duel went on, curses became darker, until the became near deadly. Ron was sweating, and Harry's wrist was cramping. Ignoring it, as he had learned to do, he sent a curse at Ron, the same time one was sent at him.

"**_Caecus_**," Ron bellowed. Harry had wordlessly sent the same spell at him, a moment before. Ron was hit with the spell, but Harry moved out of its way.

"_Animadverto_," Harry said quietly. Ron, who had been blinded, could now see again. Ron surrendered. They turned to see the class, and Dumbledore, staring at them in shock and disbelief. "Yes?"

"That. Was. **Awesome**!" Colin Creevy exclaimed. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Harry asked.

"The back flip!" Colin answered. The boys eyes seemed to have taken over half of his face. A few of the other third, fourth, and fifth year students looked the same way.

"Just something I practiced. It is different here, though, because I'm not jumping _off_ of something. Now, with your partner, I want you to duel. Nothing that will cause permanent, fatal, or otherwise harmful injuries. In fact, nothing above third year curses. Begin," Harry commanded.

He and Ron walked around, correcting mistakes. Harry made it to Neville before he blew up Hannah Abbott. He smiled at his dorm mate as he approached.

"Neville, you need to say the spell with a little less force. If you put too much power behind the binding curse, you run the risk of making them go completely still," Harry said. This only served to confuse the poor boy further.

"Isn't that the point?" Neville asked.

"To a certain extent. This spell is meant to stop only the bones from moving. With enough power, it will stop the lungs, heart, and blood flow." Neville seemed to go white, but he nodded and turned back to an equally pale Hannah. Harry walked away from them, and over to Malfoy and Luna.

Luna had Malfoy bound, gagged, and blindfolded. Harry smiled at her.

"Nice work," he said, grinning. She smiled at him, and her eyes seemed very focused.

"He insulted Neville," she said, airily. Harry's grin widened. Luna sat on Malfoy's stomach. "I considered turning him into a ferret, but I decided against it."

"Very good, carry on." It took all the composure Harry had not to burst into laughter as he walked away. It seemed Ron had noticed Malfoy's predicament, and was having a harder time than Harry.

"Stop," Harry said, standing on the platform. All movement ceased. "Very good. This will give You will notice in this class that you will also learn things that you should and should not do in a duel. Insulting your opponent is one of them. Sometimes it causes them to lose concentration, but other times it gives them the hate necessary to use the Cruciatus curse. Be cautious of what you say in a duel," Harry said, pointing to Malfoy. A few people laughed slightly.

"On to sword fighting," Ron said, excitedly. Harry nodded, and silently asked Ron who should talk. Ron shook his head. Harry remembered Ron hated public speaking.

"Right-o," Harry began. Two people walked into the hall at that moment. Snape and McGonagall. Both motioned for him to continue, as they sat with Dumbledore against the left wall. "As it would be stupid to hand all you swords ant tell you to have at it, Ron and I will-"

"You should know, Potter, that decent purebloods are taught how to handle swords from a very early age," Malfoy sneered. He had been helped up by one of his housemates.

"It would be a miracle, then, if one of these pureblood parents could teach there kids how to not be bested in a duel," Harry said airily. Pink tinted Malfoy's cheeks. "But, if you really believe so, why don't you show us?" Harry asked, drawing a sword. It was long, and pointy. Ron gasped and stumbled backwards.

"Harry! Do you know what that is!?" Ron screamed. Harry grinned.

"Why, I do believe it's a sword, Ronald," Harry said.

"That's- It's- how?" Ron asked weakly. "That's the Most powerful sword, left of Excalibur itself!"

"I'm a very special person. Anduril has come to be very temperamental. Besides, I found a lot of pretty toys this summer. Scimitars, knives, arrows. It's only right that I have Anduril, too," Harry said, grinning. "Come on, Malfoy. Surely you, a pureblood, aren't afraid of sword fighting my halfblood self, are you? Even better, I was raised by muggles, so you should beat me easy!"

Malfoy walked up to the platform, and realized he didn't have a sword. "Here, use this." Harry handed Anduril to Malfoy.

"What are you doing, you bloody loon?" Ron exclaimed.

"No. I'd rather use this one," Harry said, pulling out another sword. Ron paled further.

"You stole the Witchking's sword?"

"And his ring," Harry said, gesturing to his right hand, where four rings were.

"What did you do, mug his corpse?" Ron asked, jumping off the platform.

"That is _exactly_ what I did," Harry replied, swinging the sword in a test move.

"Weirdo," Ron muttered.

"More like 'roots for the evil person even after they die', but okay," Harry said. Malfoy was admiring Anduril. He looked over to Harry, and bowed. Harry had his sword resting on the back of Malfoy's next before he could move. "Give up?"

"You can't do that! Bowing is necessary!" Malfoy barked. Harry smiled.

"Ah, you don't sword fight. You sword swing. I'm in this to draw blood. Your type of fight is for honor, mine is for victory. Common misconception. First to bleed loses," Harry said.

"You're crazy, Potter," Malfoy spat. The blonde charged forward, swinging the sword. Harry stepped to the side, then stuck his foot out, tripping the other boy.

"Oops. Got to be careful, Malfoy. It's hard to keep your footing on this totally flat platform, with nothing in the way _at all_ to trip over." Malfoy stood in a fighting position, but Harry's was better. While Malfoy could only move forward, and keep his balance, Harry could move in any direction.

Malfoy directed an attack at Harry's legs, but Harry jumped up, and brought his sword down, cutting his opponents shirt. Malfoy looked startled, but settled back into an attack position. Harry did the same, but this time he aimed an attack at Malfoy's torso.

Malfoy fell backwards, landing on his back painfully. The blade clattered out of his hand, and he stared at Harry, then his dropped sword.

Harry's hand lashed out, cutting a paper cut size cut on Malfoy's forehead. Harry walked away, picking up Anduril as he did so.

"Yes, it appears purebloods are taught how to sword fight. There is one person in this room I would be afraid to sword fight. That would be professor Snape, because I'm not stupid enough to hand him a sword and say 'attack me!'," Harry said. He put away the Witchking's sword, and held Anduril.

The class went on from there. When the class ended, the students left to change into cleaner clothes before breakfast. Harry moved the tables back into place.

"Well, that was… enlightening," Snape said, neutrally. Harry could tell he was impressed.

"Hmph," Harry said, sitting down. "I say we give half the class slingshots and tell them to have at it," Harry growled. Ron laughed.

"Don't worry, Harry. I'll take the less advanced ones-"

"The ones that have no hope in hell," Harry corrected.

"-And you take the ones that stand a chance," Ron finished. Harry nodded. "Now you have to tell me. Where did you get the Witchking's sword!"

"Told you. He was killed, I took it. And his Ring. Aragorn gave me Anduril. I somehow managed to get the ring from a king of man, But if I remember correctly, Elrond gave that to me-"

"Who else gave you stuff?" Ron demanded.

"Aragorn gave me his ring," Harry said. Ron's jaw tightened. "Oh! I almost forgot! Elrond told me to give this to you!" Harry took a dagger out of his pocket, and handed it to Ron. Ron looked shocked.

"Harry… I can't take this!"

"Oh bloody hell. First you complain that you didn't get anything, now you won't take what you were given? And you called me a loon?" Harry asked. Ron picked up the dagger.

"But this is… expensive!" Ron exclaimed. It was an Elvish dagger, with ornate carvings about the handle.

"So is the Uruk Hia machete-thing I have. Man that thing could take a leg right off the body. But, this is special. It has poison in the blade, that injects into the wound as it stabs. I, uh, took the liberty of filling the poison chamber for you. Hehehe," Harry walked out of the hall, giggling insanely. Ron admired the dagger some more.

"I wonder what poison he put in here…?" Ron wondered aloud. Severus snorted beside Albus.

"Is it not obvious, Weasley? Basilisk Poison," Severus said. Albus felt his eyebrows begin to rise. Ron, who had the tip of the dagger an inch from his finger, paled.

"Then that would be…" Ron trailed off. "Bloody awesome," Ron muttered as he left the hall. Students started to file in, mostly first and second years. After a time, third years and up traveled in.

Albus left the hall, for the privacy of his own office. It became a tad less private, though, when a knock sounded from the door. Albus had been unaware of a visitor, so he had no idea who to expect.

"Come in," he called. The door opened, and the headmaster was surprised to see Harry. "Harry, I was not expecting you," Albus said, gesturing Harry to sit.

"Odd. I do remember Ron telling me last night that you wished to see me this very morning," Harry said, grinning. The boy sat down heavily in the chair across from Albus. The headmaster leaned forward, looking at Harry. "You see, I came to the conclusion, long ago, that you were not in your right mind. How could you be? I mean, you've let death eaters into the school left and right, you allowed the chamber of secrets to be opened, not once, but twice.

"And for the longest time, I blamed you for the death of Sirius," Harry said. Albus briefly wondered what Harry was playing at. "But, after a particularly nasty blow to the head, I came to realize that it was all a lie. I've realized you were not to blame for those events, or for the death of Sirius. They were all tragic twists of fate, and you were not to blame in any way, for anything." When Harry finished, he nodded, almost to himself, and looked up at Albus, from the spot he had been staring at on the floor.

Albus, for his part, had no idea what to say. He knew that what Harry had just said had been a twisted apology, but he had no idea how to respond. He was saved the trouble, though, when Harry continued.

"So… I'm sorry," Harry said. Albus looked at Harry, and he suddenly saw the slightest flash of the naïve little eleven year old boy that had nervously walked into Hogwarts five years ago. That moment passed, and Albus recognized the strong man that Harry had grown into, seemingly over night.

"Harry, the other night, young Ronald mentioned something about you being immortal. Care to elaborate?" Albus asked. Harry seemed to raise an eyebrow at the change of subject, but the young man didn't object.

"It would seem that both of my parents had elf blood in them. When the two lines met… I am over half elf. But, Ron was wrong. I chose not immortality, but a mortal life. Immortality does not suit me," Harry shrugged, and the boys eyes drifted off to land on Fawkes. The phoenix in question spread his wings, and took off from his perch, landing on Harry's knee.

Albus truly thought he would glow with pride for days.

"Harry, that is the most amazing thing I've ever heard anybody say," Albus said. Harry looked away from the bird, and smiled at him.

"Well, let that make up for things I may or may not say in the near future, then. I'm going to become very stressed, very quick," Harry said. Albus wasn't sure if Harry had meant that as an insult to him, but the smile on the other mans face changed his mind. Harry had simply been stating the truth.

"Can I have the pictures back, then?" Albus asked, hopefull.

"Not in this lifetime," Harry replied, laughing. Albus continued, a bit dissapionted.

"Yes, well, another thing I need to speak to you about. As a professor-" Albus ignored the odd twitch from Harry "-you are allowed to visit Hogsmeade anytime you are not in class, and you have no curfew. You may give and take points, but they must be fair, and not biased. Can you handle that?" Albus asked, resisting the urge to smirk at the wholly crushed look on Harry's face.

"Fine. Ruin my fun. I can agree to that. But you have informed the house elves that coffee is required at the Gryffindor table, at all meals, right?" Harry asked, with a lopsided grin only a teenage boy could pull off.

"Of course. Wouldn't want you falling asleep while sword fighting, now would we?" Albus joked. Harry rolled his eyes. Albus was struck by just how immature Harry could act, given the option. "Harry, are you still going to make the speech tonight? Minister Fudge has asked to be in attendance, along with a reporter from the _Daily Prophet_."

"I look foreword to it!" Harry said, grinning maniacally. Albus did NOT like that look.

"You scare me a little, Harry." Harry only grinned in response.

Harry walked into the Great Hall that night, and nearly turned around and walked out. The room had been magically expanded, fitting almost two hundred extra people in it.

"Harry? You listening?" Ron asked. Harry nodded, and focused his attention on his best friend. "So, you think I could take Aragorn in a

battle?" Ron asked. Harry stopped in his tracks.

"No. Don't even try. Just… no. It wouldn't work," Harry stated.

"Oh, and you're soo much better than me?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yes," Harry said simply. Both of them sat down at the Gryffindor table. Ron punched his arm. "Oh sweet heaven, I'm mortally wounded," Harry stated dryly.

"Asshole," Ron said, loudly. "Thinking just because you're Harry Potter, that you're better than everybody else. Hmph," Ron growled. Harry smiled darkly.

"But of course. Ay, Hermione!" Harry said, gaining the attention of the girl across from them. She looked up and smiled. "Your boyfriend is mocking me!" whined Harry. Hermione grinned.

"You probably deserve it. And Ron, don't you _dare_ mock Harry!" Hermione snapped, smirking. Ron gawked. He then turned on his friend.

"Harry, give me you MP3 player," Ron demanded. Harry raised an eyebrow, but did so anyway. Ron seemed to find a particular song, and he turned it on, full blast, then put the earphones over Hermione's ears. He used a sticking charm to keep them there.

Hermione's eyes slowly began to widen. Because she could not hear her own voice, she raised it to a level where she _could_ hear it. "Teenaged boys are undoubtedly the most vile creatures to walk this earth!" she screamed. All movement and sound in the hall stopped. "That's disgusting! Is THIS what you really talk about when we leave the room!?"

She didn't seem to notice that a thousand and a half people were staring at here.

"That's nothing. You've barely made it past the chorus," Harry said. Ron was laughing so hard that tears were falling down his face. Dean and Seamus had caught on, having heard the song the night before, and they found it funny, too.

In fact, they started singing.

A few women in the general area turned green, but the men laughed. Seamus and Dean stood up. "Yes, we know, we'll be in the headmasters office, then," Dean said. And they _continued_ to sing out of the hall.

"Very well," Dumbledore said, standing up. "Will everybody please take a seat? Good. I had not planned on quite so many people, and so I hope you are all comfortable. After the feast that has been prepared, we have a special guest speaker to make a speech. Tonight we will honor those already lost to us in the war. But first, we will feast in their honor!" Dumbledore said, and the tables filled with food.

Harry noticed Aragorn, Gimli, Elrond, Legolas, and GanMerdalflin seated to the right of Dumbledore. Fudge and Percy sat on the headmasters left, much to the Minister chagrin. The right side was a place of honor. Harry smirked.

The feast went smoothly, until halfway through. Harry nearly jumped out of his skin when Dobby appeared next to him.

"Harry!" the small elf whispered frantically. Harry leaned down a bit, putting down his knife and fork.

"What?" he whispered back.

When Dobby finished explaining the situation, Harry stood up abruptly. People stopped eating to look at him.

"Thank you, Dobby," Harry said quietly. Louder, he went on, "I'll be back." He turned sharply, and walked out of the hall, and up the stairs.

Albus watched Harry leave, wondering where the man was going. Knowing Harry would be back in time for his speech, Albus went back to his talk with Elrond and Merlin. But it was not to be. Fudge interrupted.

"Dumbledore, you shouldn't let him have control of your school like this. It's not healthy. And what do I hear of him teaching? He is but sixteen!" the generously proportioned man said. Quietly, so as to not draw attention to it, Albus changed the ministers wine into grape juice.

"He is seventeen, and the most experienced swordsman I have on hand, thank you very much," Albus choked out, his throat threatening to close. Something about the ministers very _voice_ made him angry.

"What can a boy know of real battle?" Fudge rumbled on.

"Oh six of this, half a dozen of that," Albus replied evenly. "Harry has certainly seen more of this war than you have, Fudge. He's no ordinary sixteen year old boy."

"He's no ordinary human," Aragorn supplied. Albus felt Fudge tense. Albus blew out a breath.

"And what would that mean? Who are you?" Fudge demanded. Aragorn pulled himself to his full, seated, height.

"I am Aragorn. Harry is not a normal human. He is over half Elf," Aragorn said.

"ELF!?!" Fudge exploded. Talk in the hall quieted a bit. "Elves are not permitted to own wands! Willfully breaking the law! I Told you, Albus, that Potter is nothing but a fraud, and a criminal!"

"That is Professor Dumbledore to you, Fudge. Personally, I do believe that Harry is a hundred times more powerful than you yourself are. Human, Elf, Dwarf, we are all beings on this earth. Humans do not rule over other creatures," Albus said, his tone cold.

"Are you calling me a creature?" Legolas asked, his tone even and quiet, but it traveled the hall.

"I'm dining with an Elf?" Fudge exclaimed, disgust written on his purple face.

"Ah, not only one Elf, but the prince of Mirkwood, and the Lord of Rivendell. To any normal person, this would be seen as a high honor. Not only that, but you are also dining with a King, and a man whose knowledge would surpass you, and all those before you, even those yet to come," Elrond said, his customary scowl in place.

"But you can all do magic, can you not?" Fudge asked. Gandalf leaned foreword.

"Of the five of us, I am the only one gifted in that craft," the old man answered. Fudge turned an even darker shade of red. Albus saw Harry walk in, and he quickly stood up.

"Ah! May I introduce our guest speaker, Harry Potter!" Albus said. People swiveled in there seats to get a better look at Harry.

Harry was standing at his menacing height of six foot four, his short hair spiked up, making him look a bit taller. The mans skin was a soft white, but not pale. When Albus looked closely, he could see a bit of a point at the top of Harry's ear.

Albus came to the distinct conclusion that Harry wanted people to think he's strange. The boy was wearing black shorts that went halfway down his calf, and a dark green sleeveless shirt. To add insult to injury, Harry had somehow acquired a tattoo, written in a swirling language that Albus could not read, on his upper right arm.

Albus noted with a sigh that Harry's shirt said, quite boldly 'ANARCHY!'

Harry smirked slightly. "Hello," came his smooth reply to his introduction. Harry came foreword to stand on the raised area the staff table was on. He faced the general audience. "First off, I would like to take a moment to explain something to you. You see, when Dumbledore asked me to make this speech, he did not tell me that five hundred extra people were to show up. He said it would be the Minister, and a reporter. If I sound nervous, it's because, well, I am.

"But to my topic. We are here to honor those fallen in this war with Voldemort." Harry began listing those fallen, and a few people looked shocked when he listed death eaters, also. He finished his long list, at last (he had done his research). "A few people that need to be specially noted. The Longbottoms, Frank and Alice. Aurors, they were. Brave to the very end. Bellatrix Lestrange," Harry spat the name with hatred, "tortured them into insanity, mostly for her own sick pleasure.

"Barty Crouch Jr. AND Sr.. Jr. was sucked soulless by a Dementor, before he could tell of his service to the dark lord, after his father had sprung him from Azkaban. Ah, not all of you knew that one, did you? Sr. died trying to trying to tell Albus Dumbledore of Voldemort's upcoming return, after the man had been forced under the Imperious curse for a year.

"Lucius Malfoy," Harry went on, shocking some people, "is a man of high intellect, ambition, and cunning. He is the epitome of Slytherin. This isn't a bad thing. Three days ago he was given the Dementors Kiss. Lucius Malfoy was a man with power, both monetary and magical. While Light sided wizards believe he was just evil, and nothing more, he had the respect of every magical person, whether it be willingly given, or grudgingly. Had he been on the side of the Light, there is no doubt in my mind that he would have been an amazing man.

"The next, and final person I wish to point out, is one very dear to me. Say one word, Fudge, and I will have you out of here," Harry added, turning around. Without waiting for a response, he went back to his speech. "Sirius Black was my godfather, and a wonderful man." Hisses and gasps met Harry, but he silenced them with a glare. "He was murdered, just last June, attempting to save my life. Bellatrix Lestrange murdered him, pushing him through the Veil of Death. Needless to say, I now wish for that b-woman's blood spread across all the continent.

"Pureblood, halfblood, muggleborn, squib, muggle, these are not important. We all want the same things in life. Food on the table, a place to call home, someone to love, a few kids, maybe, and money in the bank. Are these things not entitled to all beings? Believe it or not, you are not Divinely chosen to be a pureblood, or a muggle, or the like. Put yourself in the position of a muggle. They have not what we take for granted.

"If they want to cook something, they cannot spell utensils to stir food, and sponges to wash dishes. They do it by hand. They can not simply appear in another place at will. Nor can they travel through a fireplace.

"It is soo much easier to be a wizard. Muggles have it rough, and what do we do? We try to make their life as hard as we can. Why do I say 'we'? My only relatives alive are muggles. They know not the difference between 'Light' and 'Dark' magic. 'Good' and 'Bad' magic. They see only magic. From the beliefs they hold, we, all of us as a whole, are evil people.

"What proof, might I ask, do we have to prove otherwise? My grandparents on my mothers side (my aunts mother) was tortured, raped, and killed by wizards. Muggles only have bad, if any, experience with magic. Who are we to judge them? When we, as a society, could not fill their shoes?" Harry asked. The crowd looked a little uncomfortable. Good, keep 'em on their toes.

"No, I'm not done yet," Harry said. A few people laughed. "The people who have died in this war, Light or Dark, died believing they had helped their cause. All of these people, ALL of them, are heroes, in their own way. Do not curse the dead hippogriff. The fallen followers of Dark died, for the same reasons as the fallen Light. They believe that they're idea is right, and they were willing to die for their cause.

"To end this little speech, I will leave you with a thought. Do you think that if Tom Riddle (who is Voldemort) would have gone so far down the path of Evil if he had grown up in a loving family, rather than in a cruel orphanage? Do you think that if he had been raised by wizards, he would grow up to be so hateful towards muggles? In your opinion, do you think that if Tom Riddle had ever had a friend, he would have been lost to the Light? Evil people aren't born. They're made. Goodnight, ladies and gentlemen," Harry said, stepping from the stage.

His speech, in total, took five minutes. Unknown to anyone in the hall, that would be the most well remembered speech in all of the Wizarding history. Harry walked out of the completely silent hall. Not one word was spoken as he passed.

Harry made it to his dorm, where he instantly flopped onto a couch, and cracked a book. It was fifteen minutes before other Gryffindors came in after him.

"Harry!" Hermione said, sitting on the couch across from him. "That was amazing! You should have seen the look on Fudge's face!"

"Absolutely priceless!" Ron said, throwing Harry's feet to the ground and sitting down. He ignored Harry's growl, and continued. "Man, and the reporters got it word for word, too! Did you see MALFOY'S face? Brilliant, Harry. Short, though."

"Straight to the point. That's my theory." Harry rolled his eyes, and sat all the way up. "I'm going to get to bed. See you in the morning, six sharp," said Harry, starting to the boys dorm.

" 'Night, Harry," echoed behind him.

Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table, after his class had finished. And he was hungry. He pulled the closest plate to him, and began eating whatever was on it. Ron sat down next to him, and did the same thing.

The room filled up quickly, and soon sounds of people happily eating sounded around the room.

Today, the class had been split into groups. Ron's group was the less advanced group; the ones that had no hope in hell.

Harry's group was made up of the elite; the ones that knew how to hold a sword and wand properly.

Harry wanted to cry.

Before he had the chance, though, two voices could be heard from right outside the castle. Singing. The entrance doors were open, because it was such a nice day. Fred and George Weasley were singing, and coming into the castle.

"_We're not gonna pay  
We're not gonna pay  
We're not gonna pay  
Last year's rent! This year's rent!  
Next year's rent  
Rent rent rent rent rent  
We're not gonna pay rent!!  
'Cause everything is RENT!!!_"

Harry stared at them. Both were off key, off tune, and just on time. The twins had made it in the great hall, and took an exaggerated bow.

"Harry-"

"-We-"

"-Kinda-"

"-Need-"

"-Your-"

"-Help," the twins finished together. Harry raised an eyebrow, and set down his fork. "Here's the story. See, we just got new premises in Hogsmeade. But, the landlord is a… meanie head," Harry saw them look at the nearest first year before they amended the word, " and we need you to, uh, help."

"Hm. Okay. Sounds FUN. Let's Go. You're buying me breakfast for this, though. Come on, Ron." Harry pulled Ron to his feet. Ron growled, but went anyway. Harry poked his rib, just to antagonize him. Halfway out of the castle, Harry couldn't get that song out of his head. So, just to bother everyone else, he began singing it.

"_How can you connect in an age  
Where strangers, landlords, lovers  
Your own blood cells betray!  
What binds the fabric together  
When the raging, shifting winds of change  
Keep ripping away! _

Draw a line in the sand  
And then make a stand!

_Use your camera to spar  
Use your guitar  
When they act tough - you call their bluff"_

"Shut up, Harry!" Ron snapped. Harry smiled at him. Ron glared angrily.

The walk to town was spent in silence. Once they reached the Iron Gate, Harry turned to the twins.

"Define 'meanie head'," He said. They looked between each other.

"He wants to charge us two thousand galleons a month. Right now, he wants three months worth of rent. Tomorrow," the twins said. Harry nodded.

"Anything else?" he asked casually.

"He's a huge fan of yours," Fred noted, a smirk on his face. Harry also smirked. He led the way to the new shop, and stopped at the door. George opened it. "He should be here in a minute."

As soon as the door closed behind them, it was opened again.

"Fred, I think this place is perfect for OUR new shop," Harry said, ignoring the man in the doorway. He became hard to ignore, however, when he began speaking.

"Who are you?" Harry turned to see the mans face. He was a short man. His face was long and narrow, giving a shrewd look to the man. He looked, overall, like a business man.

"I'm Harry Potter. I'm the financial backer of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Who, might I ask, are _you_?" Harry asked. The man didn't speak for a moment.

"I- I'm, uh… Duncan Shnitter, sir. I own this building. I'm here to discuss the rent with these fine men," Shnitter said, nodding to the twins.

"No. You're here to discuss rent with _me_. What's your price?" Harry asked. Straight to the point, as always.

"Um, five hundred galleons a month," Shnitter said. Harry raised an eyebrow, causing the other man to stutter for a moment. "How about two fifty a month?"

"That sounds agreeable. Deal." It was twenty minutes before the deal was made final. Harry and Ron went back up to the castle after the signing of the contract, which Shnitter had stared at for nearly a minute, when he saw Harry's signature.

"So, mate, how are things going with my sister?" Ron asked, halfway to the castle. Harry hummed for a moment, and pretended not to hear "Harry."

"Oh. Good, good. How are things with you and Hermione?" Harry asked. "Planning the first child, yet? You do know that you have to name your fist son after me, right?"

Harry ran, and Ron chased. Harry ran through the open castle doors, with Ron right on his heels. Then Harry crashed into something. Ron followed. Oh, it was a person.

Oh NO. It was Dumbledore. All three men went sprawling to the floor. Harry landed on his head, at an odd angle. Ron landed on his arm, while Dumbledore just fell backwards.

"Ah, damn, I got blood on my shirt," Harry said. He then realized that it must be HIS blood, so he must be bleeding. He felt his head, and realized there was a gash from his temple, to the top of his head, where the skin had split open. "Hmm. This really should hurt," Harry said. "I'm worried to note that it doesn't, though."

"Harry, you're covered in blood," said Ron.

"Thank you, Ron. Next time I need something so obvious pointed out, I'll ask you." Harry healed his head, and stood up. "Oi. The healing hurt more than the cut. Come on Ron," said Harry. Then he walked up with stairs, disregarding Dumbledore.

Harry and Ron went to classes as usual, and Harry managed to cause Crabbe's potion to blow up. Twice.

It was ten thirty when Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione went down to the Great Hall for the Order meeting. But not in a way that anyone would have imagined.

* * *

Is this a cliff hanger? Hmm. How did they show up? Tune in… Next time I update! 

I may post a companion piece, explaining exactly what happened in Middle Earth. Or, when I'm done with this, I'll rewrite it from different P.O.V.'s. I don't know.

And for those of you who missed it, **Dumbledore will be good and nice in this fic**. It's important to the plot later.

**_I've posted a side fic! An explanation about the pictures Harry took of Albus and Minerva._**

MountainDew-IsDeadly


	9. Whispers of Forshadowing

I'm going with a ten page limit for my chapters. This is, of course, eleven. . .

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Albus Dumbledore was sitting at the head seat of the round table, waiting for the last four members of the Order to arrive.

And then the four teenagers showed up.

Harry Potter was walking forward. Ron Weasley was on his back, with Hermione Granger on his, and Ginny Weasley on top. Harry was walking like it was nothing.

They looked to come to a total of eleven feet tall. Ron was singing, but suddenly stopped. "Harry! _You have gray hair_!" Ron yelled.

"I know," said Harry simply.

"You know, and you haven't told me? I'm your best mate! I should know these things!" Ron said.

"Riiiiight. Only if you promise not to have more than two kids," Harry said. "Will you get off of me now?"

"Not until you tell us why you pimp slapped Dean Tomas," said Ron.

"You do know that you're only five hundred pounds put together, right? I could do chin ups right now," said the Boy-Who-Lived.

Albus stood up. "Today, we have a new member joining us. Quentin Bar is an Auror, and will be one of our insights into the ministry. As is our custom, Quentin must duel somebody, so we know where he stands on a dueling level. Quentin, who do you wish to duel?" Albus asked.

Quentin was a rather tall man, maybe an inch or two shorter than Albus himself. He had a lean look to him, and brown hair. His razor sharp eyes were deep, dark blue. His answer was instant.

"Harry Potter."

THUD 

Ron Weasley had fallen off of Harry, laughing. He took the two girls with him, too.

"Harry'd tear you a new arsehole, man. Don't even try. Harry fights _dirty_. And he's an Elf, so he's got the whole balance thing going for him. Don't try," said Ron. Quentin drew himself up.

"Harry Potter," repeated the Auror

"This requires popcorn!" the twins said in unison.

Albus had been hoping that the man would name _anybody_ but Harry.

"Fine. Harry, if you would." Harry raised a hand, and everyone who had been sitting in the table was now in stands on either side of the hall. A long area was left open, for the dueling area.

Harry and Quentin stood on opposite sides, ready to duel.

"Your terms? Usually I duel until death, but I don't think that wise in this situation. How abut until the other is unconscious? Or, one of my personal favorites, until one is choking to death on their own blood?" Harry seemed to smile as Quentin seemed to wet himself mentally. He obviously seemed to be rethinking his decision.

"I think it will be first unconscious," Albus said. Harry shrugged, and Quentin nodded, rather frantically. "On the count of three. One…"

Before another word was uttered, Harry had Quentin stunned, petrified, gagged, and held at sword point.

"Wow. For an Auror, he sucks. No, he just sucks in general," said Harry. The dark haired man undid all of his curses. Quentin opened his eyes.

"HEY! He didn't wait for three!"

"No bloody Death Eater will adhere to niceties, Bar. Try again."

This time, Albus didn't get to one, and both men attacked. Harry, having quicker reflexes, dodged. Quentin was hit in the leg with a cutting hex.

It was this moment that Albus truly realized how brutal and ruthless Harry could be.

Quentin finally fell, bleeding heavily from _everywhere_. Harry just knelt beside the man, and began healing him. The Boy-Who-Lived was muttering about idiot, untrained Aurors. Quentin woke up, looking around frantically.

"I say that we give him a desk job, with _minimal_ dueling involved." People just stared at Harry, both in awe and fear. "What?"

"Harry," Ron started, "he's a top rated Auror. He left Hogwarts at the top of his class. He's killed hundreds of wannabe dark lords. Quentin Bar is a legend."

"Man. This is a serious example of stories getting blown out of proportion. This nutter couldn't take out a sack of rubbish. Top Auror. Psh."

"Harry. He's Mad Eye's prodigy. He's never lost a bloody duel in his forty five years of life!"

"Ain't so undefeated now, is he?" Harry sneered.

"It was a fluke! You cheated! My-"

"Yes, I know. Your dog died, your wand is at the cleaners, the shine off Dumbledore's forehead distracted you. Blah, blah, blah. Face it. You lost to a seventeen year old." Harry stood and half turned.

Albus paled when he heard Quentin's next words. He nearly fell over in shock, in fact.

"You little son of a bloody mudblood! You should have died with your worthless parents, you _FREAK_! You're not even human! Go back to the kitchens, you _Elf_!" Quentin yelled. Harry stopped, and when he turned around again, Albus drew a sharp breath.

It wasn't Harry staring down at the fallen Auror. It wasn't even human. This creature had glaring red eyes, and his skin was so pale it was almost translucent, his veins were visibly through the skin. His ears came to a sharper point, and his teeth were bared, sharp and dangerous.

He wasn't speaking English when he picked Quentin up by the throat, choking the life out of him. It was a language that sounded dark and evil, echoing menacingly in the hall, causing dust to fall from the ceiling.

Both Albus and Gandalf went forward. Together they were barely able to pull Harry off of Quentin.

"Harry! That is not possible! The leg can't _possibly_ reach that far," Gandalf said. Albus had a tight hold on Harry's arms. When Gandalf let go, Albus had to double his grip. Now Albus had his arms wrapped around Harry from behind, while Gandalf helped Quentin.

"Harry, calm down. Harry…" Albus continued to speak into Harry's unhearing ear. Finally, Ron walked forward and punched Harry square in the face.

Harry stopped struggling, and slumped back against Albus. Harry's nose was bleeding heavily. Ron turned his face to Albus.

"That bastard is not joining," the red head growled darkly. Albus shook his head, then looked Ron in the eye.

"What happened to Harry?"

"Well, he's an Elf. But he's not a normal Elf. He's an Ater Elf. A Dark Elf. While generally nice, and very like Light Elves, Dark Elves get angry, and can kill instinctually. He's only dangerous if he's angry, though. Otherwise, he's a normal Elf. It also takes a LOT to anger him," Ron explained. Albus nodded.

He began to carry/drag Harry out of the hall.

"How much does this child weigh?" huffed Albus. Ron helped Albus carry Harry to the hospital wing.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Albus stayed with Harry, until the young man woke up. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had been thrown out a half an hour before.

"Mmmmggghmm," was the first thing Harry said. Albus had to try hard to suppress laughter. Harry was trying to fit his entire body under his pillow, and was having a difficult time of it. Albus pulled the pillow away from Harry and got "Mrrrrgroewhmmpft," in reply.

Albus sprayed Harry with water, and in reply to that, he got a very jaguar-like growl. Albus sat in shock. NEVER had water failed to wake someone up. Then Albus had an idea.

He summoned Harry's sword to him. He began to unsheathe it, when Harry sat straight up, glaring and growling.

"It is about time you woke up, Harry," Albus said. Harry didn't stop glaring. Albus turned serious. "Harry would you mind explaining what happened at the meeting?"

"Um, I'll bet all the money I have that Ron's already told you." Harry seemed very uncomfortable at this point. "MADAM POMFREY!" Harry suddenly yelled, nearly causing Albus to jump out of his skin.

It seemed the hospital matron had been surprised, too. She came hurrying out, looking panicked. It was quite early in the morning, so she looked to be dressed in nightclothes.

"What is it, Potter?" she asked, seeing nothing wrong.

"Can I get out of here? I have better things to do," Harry said. Poppy Pomfrey looked enraged, but agreed to let Harry go.

Harry stood, and walked towards the door. Albus followed him, grabbing his arm, and leading the other man to his office. Harry sighed, but didn't protest.

Once both of them were seated in Albus' office, Harry answered his question without being asked.

"I'm usually very good at controlling my emotions, but my race is not generally know for having great tempers. I did some research on it in the library the other day. Fascinating, really. Apparently I have some wicked powers," Harry said. There was an odd light in Harry's eye that Albus couldn't explain.

"As in?" Albus prompted.

"Oh. I don't know. All the book said was that Dark Elves have some wicked powers. It seemed a bit unprofessional to me, but, oh well," Harry said, shrugging. Albus pondered this for a second.

"Well, I believe discovery these powers will be an adventure unto itself, hm? Harry, would a calming potion help you when you became angry?" Albus asked. Harry was silent for an answer, before nodding.

"I think it would. Why?" Harry asked.

"For the safety of the school, I want you to have a calming potion on you at all times. Is that clear?" Harry nodded. "Good. How are your classes going?"

"The students of this generation are horridly spoiled. Most of them can't be helped. They just refuse to work. The laziness I saw in them…" Harry growled slightly in the back of his throat.

Albus couldn't help laughing. "Do you know just how much you sound like Severus right now?" He laughed harder when Harry glared at him. Harry muttered something, most likely something rude, under his breath, then smiled. That scared Albus more.

"Oh, Professor, you are coming my class in the morning, are you not?"

"Yes…" Albus said skeptically. Harry just smiled. "Why?" Albus asked, worried.

"Oh, no reason. No reason at all," Harry said. The humor in his eyes vanished, and Albus leaned foreword a bit.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Albus asked, skeptically.

"As well as can be," Harry replied. He suddenly sounded tired, and fit to collapse.

"Honestly, this time, Harry," Albus said, sternly, "are you alright?" Harry rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands.

"Not exactly," Harry said, his voice quiet. "It's rather hard to cope, knowing that you have a basic killer instinct, you know? I- I don't enjoy killing people. I just… I don't know. It's just… a reaction," Harry whispered. Albus saw a flash of shame in Harry's eyes before the other man looked down, staring at the floor. "I just don't know how to feel anymore!" Harry barked, at the unsuspecting floor.

"In what way do you mean? You no longer have emotions, or you don't know which emotions are suitable?" Albus asked, letting his worry slip into his voice.

"The second one," Harry said, causing Albus to sigh in relief. "My emotions just never seem to fit the situations I'm in. Neville's toad died yesterday, and I was cracking up like it was the funniest thing to ever happen!" Harry sounded quite disgusted, and Albus became very worried, quickly.

"Harry, have you been sleeping properly?" Albus asked.

"Of course I have. In a bed and everything," Harry snapped. The younger man sighed. "I'm sorry. That was rather rude."

"How long do you sleep every night?" Albus asked.

"One, two hours, maybe," replied Harry.

"Well, _Merlin_, Harry! No wonder you've had problems with controlling your emotions! You need to sleep more!" Harry nodded, not entirely surprised by the reaction.

"I suppose. I just don't have the time, anymore. And when I do sleep it's usually…" Harry trailed off, still not looking at Albus. The Headmaster leaned foreword, resting his elbows against his desk.

"It's usually what, Harry?" Albus prompted.

"…Not peaceful," finished Harry.

"How so?" asked Albus. Harry gave a short, hollow laugh.

"You sound like my shrink," the teen said. Before Albus could say anything, Harry continued. "I have constant nightmares. They are not… pleasant. Then I wake up and teach snotty kids how to kill someone with a sword. I'm surprised I haven't had a mental breakdown."

"Harry, you are the most amazing person I know," Albus said. Albus could sense that Harry had rolled his eyes. "I'm serious, Harry. You have an ability to love like I've never seen before. You effect everybody around you, and they have no choice but to instantly like you," explained Albus.

"What time is it?" Harry was obviously uncomfortable with the topic.

"Half past five in the morning," answered Albus. Harry jumped to his feet.

"WHAT!? I have-"

"Sit down, Harry," Albus ordered. Harry sat, glaring at Albus. "You used a lot of your magical reserves last night. You don't need to be teaching right now. Ronald will handle it."

"Ron couldn't handle it if you paid him overtime. Now I sound like Eyebrows," Harry muttered. Albus leaned back in his chair, sighing. Fawkes seemed to mimic his emotions perfectly.

"Fine. I'll let you teach today, but if I say you need to rest, you will rest. Do you understand?" Albus asked, sternly. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Come on, we have to go. I'm not going to be late. Just… no," said Harry, standing up to leave the office. Albus followed him down to the Great Hall.

As soon as the two walked through the doors, Ron pointed to the Headmaster. Harry whipped around, and Albus saw the boy smirk.

"Well, well, well," Harry said, still smirking. "You think yourself above the rules, Headmaster?" Albus raised an eyebrow. Quite a few of the students in the hall laughed. "Your robes," Harry said.

Albus looked down. What was wrong with his robes…? Oh. They were red and gold. Gryffindor House colors. Before Albus could look up, his robes were a horrid mixture of lime green, pink, lilac, orange, and mildew blue. Albus twitched.

"You know the rules, Professor. No house colors in this class," Ron said. He clapped his hands together. "We still have fifteen minutes before class, yet everyone is here. _Why_?"

"Well. . ." Dean Thomas started, looking a bit nervous. "Some of us looked up Elves," his eyes flickered to a few nearby Ravenclaws, "and we found out that they can do some pretty amazing magic. We were hoping to be able to see some," Dean finished, blowing out a breath.

"Did you have an Elf in mind?" Ron asked. Seamus stepped foreword.

"Harry, of course. He's the only Elf _I_ know," the Irishman said.

"I'll do you one better. YO, EYEBROWS! You can come out of the shadows!" Harry yelled. The tall Elf stepped foreword, startling most of the people in the hall.

"How did you know I was there?" Elrond asked, ignoring the nickname.

"Dude, it's impossible to not notice your scowl. You might as well just get a flashing neon sing that says 'I'm staring at you _angrily_'. Well, come on hen, let's seem some magic," Harry said. Elrond stepped foreword even more, and Harry conjured himself a stool and sat down. Elrond cleared his throat, and looked around the hall full of eager students.

"Elves are quite unlike any other race of people. We are immortal, naturally. One thing different about us, is, of course, that most of us don't have magic. We are all, what you mortals call, Elementals. Every Elf can control all four elements, but we usually only master one or two. Light Elves usually have dark eyes, and Dark Elves usually have eyes that are colors like green, blue, and yellow. Would you car to see and Elf Duel?" everybody nodded. Harry stood up, and stood in front of Elrond, smirking in an evil manor. "Legolas, please. . ." Nobody missed the flash of worry in his eyes.

"Oh, I'm a good three thousand years older than Harry. I think he needs a chance to practice, you know," Legolas said. Elrond sighed.

"Fine. Tell my daughter I loved her. . ." his last statement was mumbled.

Harry attacked first. He sent a large gust of air at the other Elf, blowing him back a few feet. Elrond's long dark hair became a just _little_ less perfect, and Harry smirked. Harry knew that Elrond's strength was water, and Harry knew that his was fire.

As those evened each other out, Harry had decided to throw him off with wind.

The raging duel than ensued stunned, shocked, and frightened a good many people. Elrond finally surrendered, and Harry checked the time. It was exactly the start of class.

"Today, we will start to work with bows. Legolas, did you want to demonstrate?" Harry asked. The tall, light haired Elf swiftly got to his feet, smiling softly.

Legolas explained how to hold and use a bow, while Harry and Ron conjured targets in the air and fired at them. Suddenly, Ron turned and shot an arrow at Harry.

"Bleeding hell!" Harry growled. "Why in hell do I have an arrow in my shoulder?"

"I wanted to see what you would do. . ." Ron said.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Luck you! I posted this because we have 227 days till the fifth movie comes out!

I have the next chapter written, too, but it has to be almost totally redone. I slipped into my old habit of making Albus evil. . . Can't have that. . .

**TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU ASK! **

Elrond and Harry are evenly matched in power. Elrond surrendered because he knew Harry wouldn't. Ever.

For every twelve hours that passed on Earth, a year passed in Middle Earth. While Middle Earth is visiting Earth, every year on Earth is a day in Middle Earth.

Albus won't be evil.

Draco, Snape, and Remus will play a major role in the end.

Harry hasn't chosen between mortality and immortality yet. Shh, don't tell his friends.

Harry can go so long without sleep by feeding off of his power, and Pepper Up Potions. Can you say heart problems…?

I don't know if Ron is evil or not. My muse hasn't let me in on the secret. Sorry.

Stress causes gray hair. I have a friend who's had gray hair since he was thirteen. You know, not !GRAY! but gray specks here and there. I find it very amusing to pluck his gray hairs when I get bored. . .

**

* * *

POLL QUESTION! VERY IMPORTANT!**

Is Auror pronounced:

A) **_Are_**-er

B) **_Or_**-er

C) Are-**_er_**

D) Or-**_er_**

E) Other, specify.

With your answer, leave what country you're from, please. This is for a story I'm writing.

* * *

I'll post again before next week. Happy (very late) Thanksgiving! Well, it's still November, at least. . .

_**MountainDew-IsDeadly **_


	10. Lord Potter something or other

"_Bleeding hell!" Harry growled. "Why in hell do I have an arrow in my shoulder?"_

"_I wanted to see what you would do. . ." Ron said._

Harry growled, and pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with an odd squelching sound.

"And I want to see how long your muscles will twitch after you're skinned alive," Harry said in an undertone, so only Ron, Dumbledore, and Snape heard him. "Care to be the guinea pig?" Ron paled, then he stepped back.

"Uh, no. I'm good with my skin firmly intact, thank you." Harry glared at him, but Legolas was done with his demonstration, so he had to take control of the class.

"Today you will be using practice bows, with practice arrows. Group A, if you will move to this half. Group B, you're on this side. . ."

The class went relatively well. Considering it took Harry twenty five minutes to remember to actually stop the bleeding.

"Harry, you may want to see the medi-"

" 'Tis merely a flesh wound!" Harry said, shrugging it off. Hermione nodded, not convinced.

**0o0o0o0o0o0**

At the Order meeting that night, Snape gave a detailed report about Voldemort's latest actions.

"He and his army of… Orcs are planning an attack on Hogwarts."

Okay, so it had been an _emergency_ meeting.

"Harry, do you have any idea how to prevent this?" Dumbledore asked, turning to Harry.

"Prevention is nearly impossible at this point." Harry cast a spell in the middle of the round table, and a VERY detailed three dimensional map of Hogwarts formed from a dense mist of different colors. The man even included the forest, Hogsmeade, and the lake.

Harry enlarged a portion of the forest.

"This is the home of Aragog and his colony. I don't think we have to worry about Orcs from the forest. Aragog is a Acromantula. A little closer the castle, maybe a bit to the left, are the Centaurs. After the end of last year, they've promised to either warn of an attack, or take care of attackers themselves. Directly behind Hagrid's house, we have the herd of Thestrals. They'll warn us of an attack. Thus covers the forest.

"The apparation wards do not extend under the surface of the Lake. We needn't worry about this ether, as the Squid, Merpeople, and the Grindylow's will take care of them before they come up for breath." The map was now depicting the Lake, with a Merperson waving a spear, just below the surface. The map moved to Hogsmeade.

"This is the most likely target for attack. The Death Eaters could, quite possible, either apparate or Portkey the Orcs to the village. Portkey is more reasonable, as apparation with Orc, or Uruk-Hai, would expend quite a bit of Magical Energy.

"Uruk-Hai differ from Orcs in many ways. Orcs weaken in sunlight, while Uruk-Hai do not. Uruks are tall, generally six and a half to seven feet, while an Orc is about the size of an average man. Orcs also walk bow-legged, which is amusing in it's own right.

"We'll need swords, fire, oil, archers posted on top of the castle, and along the tops of buildings in the village. A unit of Aurors, or two, would be nice, too," Harry threw in as an after thought.

Quite a few people stared at him in shock, awe, and wonder. Legolas stood.

"I will lead the Archers," he said firmly, yet softly. Harry nodded.

"As I will lead the swordsmen," Aragorn said.

"I'll just rip them apart with my axe," Gimli said, firmly. Harry suddenly had a though, and it hit him so hard he checked to make sure nobody had whacked the back of his head.

"Dumbledore, you know about the Room of Requirement, right?" Harry continued without an answer. "It becomes what you need. _Whatever_ you need. It could become a hole in the apparation ward," Harry said. Dumbledore's eyes widened.

"I do believe you are right, Harry. Bill, would you be kind enough to go seal that room, and put extensive curses on the door?" Dumbledore asked, smiling a bit.

"Oh, snaps, we should seal the passage from the Shrieking Shack, Harry said. "And the one from that statue that leads to Honeydukes cellar. Damn. I'll do that one by myself, though, as I know what it requires. Ah, the Chamber of secrets, of course. . ." Harry said. Realizing he was rambling, he looked up and grinned. "This is fun."

"You're out of your bloody mind," Ron said.

"I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it. Back to our plans. Aragorn, do you suppose we could get some soldiers from Gondor here, just until after the 'surprise' attack?" Harry asked, looking at the King.

"Oh, I suppose I could do something _King_-ly, and order them to battle," Aragorn said. "But, I wouldn't want to overstep my boundary. . . as _King_," Aragorn said, putting emphasis on 'king'.

"Oh shut up," Harry said. "Have them here in an hour." Aragorn nodded. He stood up, and with GanMerdalflin, left the hall. "Now, since this attack will take place on Saturday-"

"Who said anything about Saturday, Potter?" snapped Snape. Harry rolled his eyes.

"It's obvious. Saturday is the first Hogsmeade visit of the year. _Work_ with me here, will you? As the attack will be on Saturday, we can not cancel the visit. It would alert Voldemort to the fact we know he's going to attack. What is required would be to make all the kids think that there will be a visit, and then not let them out the door that morning," Harry said. "No one will have enough time to contact anyone, if students are kept in the Great Hall."

"Splendid idea!" Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together.

All in all, the total planning took six hours. It was four in the morning before the meeting concluded. Dumbledore asked Harry to remain behind after the meeting.

"Harry, as you hopefully know, you are seventeen. You are now officially, legally, Lord Potter. As you inherited the name Black, from Sirius, you are now Lord Potter-Black. On top of that, you've inherited the name Emrys, from Merlin himself, I might add, and the name Peredhel, from Lord Elrond. Your name is Lord Potter-Black-Emrys-Peredhel. The Potter and Black seats on the Wizengamot count for five votes each, and the other two names count for two each. You hold fourteen votes.

"You may wonder why I am telling you this, but it is required, now that you are of legal age, that you join the Wizengamot." Harry nodded, staring at Dumbledore.

"Okay… so?" Harry asked. Dumbledore sighed, smiling slightly.

"Harry, you hold more votes than even I do. This could mean that our side of the war has a better chance of winning, politically, at least. The next meeting is this Friday. I'll have your robes to you in the morning. How does that sound?" Dumbledore asked.

He must have seen Harry's horrified look, because he laughed.

"Can I decline, or will I be forced to throw myself to the bottom of the Lake, and pick a fight with a Merwarrior?"

They spent another hour discussing what was required and expected of Harry as Lord something or other. Harry wasn't very interested in politics, but he didn't want the war lost because of his immaturity.

Harry looked at his watch, and nearly jumped out of his skin. It was five in the morning.

"Damn, I have a class to teach in an hour. . ." Harry said. As he turned to go, Dumbledore gently grabbed his shoulder.

"I don't think so. You barely got any sleep last night, and you've had no sleep yet. You are going right to bed," Albus said firmly. Harry sighed deeply, but complied.

Friday dawned early. Harry was sure that the sun was playing tricks on him. For the first time in a long time, Harry had been enjoying his sleep. It had gone uninterrupted for nearly and hour straight.

Harry got out of his warm bed, only to meet with the freezing cold stone floor. "Mother of a muffin!" Harry exclaimed, quietly.

After he was finished dressing, Harry headed to the Headmasters office. It was still early, only five thirty in the morning. He ran into McGonagall, and she smiled at him.

"Good morning, Harry. The password changed, it's Voldemort," McGonagall said, walking in the other direction.

"Thank you," Harry called after her.

**0o0o0o0o0o0**

Harry met a hilarious sight at the stone gargoyle to Dumbledore's office.

"V-v-v-vol. . . You-Know-Who!" Draco Malfoy was yelling at the statue.

"Voldemort," Harry supplied from behind Draco. The blond whirled around. "Good Morning," Harry said.

"Merlin, you surprised me, Potter," Draco muttered, climbing up the stairs. Harry followed. Draco knocked on the large door, and they both waited. The door swung open, revealing the Headmaster. He smiled brightly, albeit tiredly.

"Ah, boys, good to see you. Please, do come in. Sit down, we have a few minutes before we need to leave. Harry, Madam Malkin will be here momentarily with your robe. Draco, do you have yours?" Dumbledore asked, peering over his glasses at Malfoy.

"No, sir, Madam Malkin will be bringing mine with Potters," Draco responded. The witch Floo-ed in, as if she had waited for her name.

Harry saw her carrying two robes, and he was horrorfied.

"Those are the most hideous things I've ever seen in my life!" he exclaimed. Madam Malkin looked terrified. "Oh! Oh, no! There're beautiful. But it's just that. See, when I dress, I go for more of a rugged, battle worthy look. Usually something that has a shirt, shorts, and decent running shoes."

"Mr. Potter, you are an odd one. As it is, I did bring a back up. The are still Wizengamot Standard Robes, but they are made for battle use. Will these do?" she asked, smiling slightly. Harry looked over the more masculine robes, and nodded.

"They're perfect. As long as I never have to wear them in public." Madam Malkin growled. "I mean! They are absolutely wonderful!" Draco was smirking at him.

Harry charmed the robes on, a handy trick he had read of in a book from the Library. The robes fit, and there was enough room for Harry to move freely. Harry found his favorite sword right in his sheathe. A knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts.

"Harry, I need to talk to you. It's urgent." Harry walked to the door, opening it. He saw Gandalf, holing a wrapped package. Harry was grabbed and pulled out of the room, and the door was closed. Gandalf pushed the brown paper wrapped thing into his hands. Harry could feel that it was a sword.

He opened it, and found Excalibur. Harry's breath caught in his throat.

"What the hell. . ."

"_Merlin_!" Gandalf replied, happily. "Arthur will never knew I took it, don't worry. This will make quite the impression on the Wizengamot. Go on, then." Harry walked back into the office, attaching the new sheathe to his belt.

"What is that?" Dumbledore asked. Harry noticed Madam Malkin was gone.

"It is Excalibur," Harry said. Draco's eyes widened, while Dumbledore's eyes flashed with an unknown emotion.

"Well, then, we should be off. Draco, you first," Dumbledore said, offering Draco a jar full of Floo powder. Draco nodded to him, throwing powder into the fire. Harry watched the flames turn bright green, as Draco disappeared. Dumbledore turned to Harry. "How do you have the sword of King Arthur?"

"I am amazing!" Harry said, snatching Floo powder out of the jar, and disappeared into the flames, after Draco.

Harry found himself in a large circular room, with walls lined with fireplaces. All commotions stopped in the room when Harry came into full view. He held himself with a power and pride that nobody there had ever associated with the Harry Potter.

Harry, contrary to what he always said, was rather self conscious. He hated when people stared at him. It made him feel like he had a deformity. He knew that he had the barest hint of gray hair, even in his goatee.

His face had aged, too, to the point that he had wrinkles around his eyes. He was only seventeen! Permanent lines marred his forehead, as he was almost always scowling these days.

All in all, he looked downright menacing.

People parted as he made his way to the Wizengamot Chambers, with Draco Malfoy and Albus Dumbledore right behind him.

"You do know how to make an entrance, don't you, Potter?" Malfoy asked, sneering.

"Of course I do. In politics, appearance is everything!" Harry said, in a fake innocent tone.

"What do you know of politics?" Draco asked, sarcastic.

"Six of this, half a dozen of another thing," Harry replied lightly. He saw Draco blink in a confused manner, before Harry threw the door open.

**0o0o0o0o0o0**

They watched as the young man came into the Chambers, head held high. He was regally dressed, in ornate battle robes of black material. On the crest of the shirt, were the individual crests of four Houses. Four powerful Houses.

His eyes were sharp with power and intelligence, and his ears came to a defined point. His hair was lightly speckled with gray, as was his goatee.

People immediately started planning their manipulations of him. They didn't immediately realize who their plots involved.

The room watched as the Malfoy Heir walked into the room, closely followed by Albus Dumbledore. Most attention was still on the first one, the one with the scar. . .

It was then that most people in the room realized they were looking at Harry Potter.

It surprised all of them to no end. This was the scrawny little fifteen-year-old that had broken into the Ministry? Somehow, it didn't seem possible.

**0o0o0o0o0o0**

Okay, I lied. It's the next chapter I have to rewrite. . . I had to delete like, ten pages. I damn near cried.

Hope you liked this one, the next one will be up within a week.

90th reviewer decides wether Ginny is with Harry, or not. (I can't decide. . . I can go either way. . .)

**_MountainDew-IsDeadly_**


	11. Meetings, Sobriety and Battles

**Important a/n at the end of the chapter, especially if you are Leejing.

* * *

Harry swept into the room, scowling lightly at anyone who dared look his way. Chha, and they thought he was going to be easy to manipulate. Harry could read these people easier than the ABC's. **

_Honestly_.

After everyone had been introduced, the meeting began.

It wasn't actually a meeting of the Wizengamot, though Harry was a part of that, too. This was a meeting of all the Head's of Families. They decided what laws should be passed, and then it went to the Wizengamot for the actual vote.

The first order of business? Voldemort.

"We need more Aurors!"

"What we need is a stronger government!"

"You're all dense! We need Potter to kill the lunatic!"

Harry, of course, felt _very_ special. Heads turned in his direction.

"Oh, no, please continue. The bickering reminds me of an argument that happened between my two best friends. When we were eleven," Harry sneered. Most of the people in the room had come from Slytherin, and therefore would hate to be compared to a mere child.

They did. Harry was rewarded with their glares. He just smirked at them. The continued bickering. Until Dumbledore stood up, that is.

"Please, gentlemen, let us settle this like the adults we are. All those in favor of drafting citizens to fight in this war, raise your hand." Harry's hand rose into the air, without him consciously making it.

With Harry's fourteen votes, it was passed. For the first time in Wizarding history, there would be a draft.

"All those in favor of Aurors stationed at Hogwarts, raise your hand." For this, Harry did not raise his hand. It was dismissed. "All those in favor of a strict curfew for Wizarding places, such as Diagon Ally, and Hogsmeade, raise your hand." Harry raised his hand.

It went like that for another hour, and everything had been decided.

Harry stood, and with an intimidating swish of his battle robes, he was out the door. As soon as he left the corridor, he waved his wand. His robes became comfortable dark blue jeans, loose, and an extra large black shirt. It covered most of his muscle, which people found intimidating for some reason.

Out of no where, a curse came flying at him. Harry sent a storm of curses back in the direction it had come, after he dodged it.

"What the hell?" Harry snapped. Kingsley Shacklebolt became visible, about ten feet to his right.

"Astounding reflexes, Harry. Simply amazing. You'll make a good Auror one day, you know," Kingsley said.

"Oh hell no. I'm not wasting my time with that. After Voldemort dies, I'm holing myself up in some secluded mountains. I do not need to be running around, chasing more lunatics. Uh-uh, no. After this, I'm bloody well done with fighting," Harry said, darkly. A few people, who had heard him, gasped. They stopped and stared at him. Dumbledore and Draco came up behind him.

"Well, Potter, what was that? You left that room as if the hounds of hell were after you," Draco sneered.

"Hell, those robes start to get damn itchy. Then I come out here, and I'm bloody attacked by an _Auror_. I'm pressing charges, Kingsley!" Harry yelled, pointing at the tall Auror, who smirked back.

They departed for Hogwarts, and Harry walked from the Headmasters office, to lunch.

The atmosphere of the hall was somewhat subdued. People looked at him, when he entered, with sympathy shining in their eyes. The Slytherins looked both happy, and upset. Harry noticed that Blaise Zabini was one of the upset ones. . .

"Who died?" Harry asked bluntly, stopping before he actually sat down.

"Harry, I'm so sorry! Nobody knew! The wards failed! It was. . . your family. . ." Hermione said, tears falling down her face.

"Are you all right, Hermione? Because. . . I'm pretty sure that my family is perfectly fine. Especially since I'm staring at most of the members of my family. . ." Harry said, confused.

"Mate, it was the Dursleys," Ron said.

"Oh," Harry said.

Draco Malfoy, who had entered the hall right after Harry, sat at the Slytherin table, watching curiously. Not that he would ever admit he was curious. No, that would do at all.

"Oh," Potter said. Draco watched in what could be called amazement as Harry Potter smirked menacingly. He had seen both the Dark Lord, and his own father wear that look. It didn't bode well for anyone if the Savior of the world could pull off that look.

His eyes looked like green diamonds, hard and cruel. Draco, in later years, would admit that he was afraid, in that moment.

"How did they die? Did they suffer? Details, man!" Potter snapped at Weasley. The red head smirked.

"Your aunt was tortured by Lestrange, for almost two hours. They cut her head off with a garden tool. You uncle was dismembered, and partially burned. Your causing was put under the Imperious curse, and made to eat himself to death. They were found, mutilated, in the cupboard under the stairs. Most of the house was burned," Weasley said. Potters eyes lit up in glee. .

"How deliciously ironic!" Potter said. "Anything else happen, while I was gone?"

"Fred and George. . ." Draco tuned them out.

Why, oh why had Potter been happy? Didn't he love his only living relatives? Shouldn't he be mourning, and torn apart?

Was there something more in the past of the Boy-Who-Lived? Something that had gone unnoticed by all? Was it possibly possible that Harry Potter had been. . . No. Not Potter. Potter had been spoiled rotten.

Draco's Godfather, Severus, had said so…

That night, Harry walked into the Great Hall. An Order meeting was taking place. He was running late, do to an unusual dream he'd had, while awake. So, as he thought about it, he realized it was a day dream. Haha. . .

He threw the door open, causing people to stare at him. "What?" he snapped.

"Nice of you to join us, Harry," Dumbledore said, joking. Harry scowled.

"Yes, well, we can stick Voldemort in your head and see how you react, ey?" Harry growled. Dumbledore's smiled faded fast.

"Oh. On to other matters. At the last meeting we, discussed the likely hood of a Draft." Harry found this odd, as he remembered no such thing, He didn't comment, yet. "It would seem that for this first time in our history, there will be a Draft. It was decided at the meeting of the Heads of Families, today." An outburst came after this announcement.

"It should be voluntary!"

"You can't be forced to fight, it's not right!" These were typical comments. Harry silenced them when he stood up, a face full of rage.

"Well isn't that fine and bloody dandy? Do you mean to tell me that I don't have to fight?" Harry asked, his voice full of rage. People cringed away from his fury. "Who in their right mind would want to risk their bloody life? Not me. So, if I don't have to fight, I'll excuse myself right now, and leave Voldemort in your _capable_ hands," Harry spat. He turned to leave.

"Oh no you don't!" Moody thundered. "Don't listen to these blithering imbeciles! We need you!" Harry turned, smirking coldly.

"So. . . If I'm needed so much, why am I not being told about some of the meetings?" Harry asked, turning to face ever member individually. All looked rather guilty.

"We can explain that, Harry," Hermione said. "In the last week, you've taken forty seven doses of Pepper Up. The extra stress of Order meetings will only give you more strain on your already strained heart. You're going to have a heart attack!" Hermione yelled, obviously upset.

"Then I'll walk it off like I do with everything else!" Harry roared. Order members around the table flinched. "The one time in my life I don't need a mother, and it's the first time someone decides to be one! I don't need it! I've taken care of myself for sixteen years, with no help whatsoever! I don't need any now that I'm an adult!" Harry's voice calmed without missing a beat, and he continued, "What has happened in the meetings I've been excluded from?"

"We've mostly discussed you, Harry!" Tonks replied, cheerful. Remus shot a glare at her. "We wonder how you got so completely. . . perfect. I mean, you suddenly became this dueling expert, seemingly overnight! We all knew that you'd be powerful, but that doesn't mean you'd know all these spells. Some of the spells you know aren't even taught in Auror training, Harry," Tonks said, in one quick breath. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"What exactly are you implying?" Harry asked, darkly. He took a step back, as if expecting an attack.

"Just that some of the order no longer trusts you, for quite a few reasons. One is that you're not entirely human, another is that you seem to be on the darker side of the gray area. And then, considering the fact that you are a Dark Elf. Not only that, no one here really knows anything about you-" Harry cut Tonks off.

"Thank you, for that wonderfully eloquent way of insulting my integrity," Harry said, his tone one of forced politeness. "And As to your answer, I did not become perfect over night. In reality, I stole a Time Turner from the Ministry. I've been using the Library every night to study. I usually redo a night nine or ten times, every day. So, no, it hasn't happened every night. I've worked myself passed exhaustion every day, just to be told that you all think I'm Dark? What a lovely thank you. Next time, just throw me in Azkaban, why don't you?" Harry growled. He turned and walked out of the hall.

His natural Elf grace wouldn't allow him to stomp.

Harry walked to the Room of Requirement. When he opened the door that appeared, he saw that hundreds of dueling mannequins were in the room. Half held swords, the other half held 'wands'.

Harry spent twelve hours alternating between sword fighting and dueling, with the help of his Time Turner.

He had taken it at the Ministry battle, at the end of the previous year. He was slightly surprised that it hadn't broken while he was dueling Bellatrix, or when he had attacked Dumbledores office…

Harry slammed his fist into a dummy that was attacking him. The thing flew across the room.

Harry was sick of life. He was sick of people thinking he was crazy, while the relied on him to save the world. He was sick of his constant mood swings, too. Those would have to go.

Harry looked at his watch. In the last twelve hours, only an hour had actually passed. Time travel really gave Harry a headache. It was just nine o clock.

Harry decided to go for a run around the castle. As he was passing the Great Hall, however, he stopped to listen.

"Harry is not dark, you nutters!" he heard Ron yell. Harry smiled. Ron opened the doors, and smiled, spotting Harry. He seemed to speak loudly, so the Order would hear. "HARRY! We're seventeen! I think it's high time we went down to the village, and got roaring drunk! Drinks on you, ey!?"

"Village!? Hell, let's go to LONDON!" Harry yelled.

"Lead the way, mate! Drinks are still on you!" Ron said. The walk down to Hogsmeade was enjoyable enough. Harry grinned at Ron, as they Joint Apparated. It was a form of apparation that allowed one person to guide another person, who knew how to apparate, to the right place.

The Great Hall was silent as teachers paced up and down, waiting for the teachers of the class to show up. They had been gone since the night before. It was now six in the morning, and time for them to teach.

Severus was ready to scream, Minerva was ready to slap somebody, and Albus wanted to curl up in bed and sleep for the rest of his days.

The castle doors opened twenty minutes later.

Harry and Ron walked into the hall, looking perfectly sober. When Ron saw his parents in the hall, he burst into a fit of wild giggle.

"Hey, I know you two! You're my parents! Boy, you two must really love each other! Seven kids? B'Jesus! You to is like _rabbits_!" Ron said, slurring. Molly looked ready to blow her lid. Ron had collapsed to the floor, laughing hysterically.

"My oh my, someone is pissed," Harry said. "I'm going to put him to bed, before he hurts himself. Or worse, he start spilling secrets." Harry hauled Ron over his shoulder, and carried him upstairs.

Harry looked angry about something, but Albus wasn't sure what. Legolas and Aragorn were howling with laughter.

"Dark Elves can't get drunk!" Aragorn roared, amidst his laughter. "Harry could have all the alcohol in the world, and not even get tipsy!"

"He has to sit there and watch everyone around him having a good time, and it has no effect on him," Legolas said, wiping his eyes. "Poor kid. He can't even let alcohol take his mind off of his life."

"Life's a bitch, then you die, get over it," Harry growled walking into the room. "Wands out! Everyone point to a random person and fire a cheering charm!" Harry ordered. The class complied, looking at Harry warily.

Cheering Charms flew through the air at an alarming rate. Several people were hit.

"If you were hit, get the hell out of this class, until you can avoid curses sent in a volley. Out, OUT!" Harry bellowed. Half of the class left, smiling insanely. "The rest of you, cast a Jelly Legs Jinx at a random person!" They did so. Two people were hit.

Harry cast the counter curse, and told them to leave. Harry turned to the remaining forty people.

"Half of you are left. Half. Forty out of eighty. If those had been Killing Curses, half of this class would be dead, instead of dismissed. In a battle, there is no teacher to assign dueling buddies. You fire at anybody and everybody that may be a threat. They'll be firing right back at you!" Harry bellowed. "You need to learn how to shield yourself fully while in a duel. Write an essay on the Mage Shield, to be handed in tomorrow. Class dismissed," Harry growled. Hermione and Ginny, who had survived Harry's impromptu lesson, stayed where they were, glaring.

"Where were you?" they both demanded. Harry turned a cold stare on them, and Albus flinched. He had a gut feeling that this wouldn't turn out right.

"I was attempting to get pissed, but that plan blew over, so I attempted jumping off of the roof of the bar," Harry said, his tone cold. Harry turned to face the people in the Hall. Molly, Arthur, Remus, Severus, Minerva, and Albus himself. "I am, after all, just another dark wizard, _aren't_ I?" Harry snarled.

"You are impossible, Harry!" Hermione muttered. She brightened suddenly. "Will you help me with the essay you assigned?" she asked eagerly. Harry threw a grin at her.

"No," he said, still grinning. Hermione's hopeful smile fell.

"But I've never heard of a Mage Shield before, Harry!" Harry began walking out of the hall, humming absently. "Harry James Potter! You get back here right now! I will not fail this class, just because you. . ." Hermione trailed off, realizing what she'd said.

" 'Curses of the Damned', page seven thousand, three hundred ninety six, paragraph twenty one. I read the book three times. . . A bit of light reading, you see," Harry said. Hermione gawked.

"That's MY line!" Hermione yelled, but Harry was already out of the hall. Albus, curious, summoned the book from the Library.

A tome flew into the room. It was quite possibly the largest book had ever read, well over ten thousand pages. Hermione's eyes widened. The book, which came up to her knees, even from the floor, was her dream come true.

Hermione levitated the book unto the table, opening to the proper page.

"_The Mage Shield, also known as the Shield of Doom, has become an almost obsolete form of protection. The shield will stop any curse or otherwise harmful magic, sending the magic back at the castor with increased power. It is named the Shield of Doom, simply because when someone uses it, anyone who tries to attack them almost always dies. _

_The last known person to use this shield, was Grindewald, in his fight with Albus Dumbledore, the day he was defeated. It backfired on him, sending the curse at himself with almost tripled power. That is How Albus Dumbledore managed to Kill Grindewald with a tickling charm_. . ." she trailed off, staring at Albus.

"I always wondered about that," Albus said, chuckling. On the inside, his stomach felt like it was trying to reach his toes and eyes at the same time. That shield had become, nearly, dark.

"This is a great book," Hermione said. There was an odd light in her eye. "I have to go. . . fix my hair!" she said, levitating the book along with her as she ran out of the hall. Ginny followed her, cackling.

"SON OF A BI-" they heard Harry scream. Students were spilling into the Hall for breakfast, talking excitedly about the Hogsmeade trip. The Attack. Uh-oh. "WAKE UP, RON! WAKE UP, YOU DRUNKEN ASSHOLE!"

The sound of pounding footsteps thundered down the hall, scattering a group of girls on the stairs. Harry bounded down the stairs, into the Entrance Hall. He looked aggravated, and worn out.

Seconds later, Ron followed him, looking a hung over. His hair was limp, and his eyes drooped. He was walking at a sloth's pace, and he looked ready to hit the first person to speak to him.

Harry leaned back, and his spine cracked in four places, and it sounded very unhealthy. Students in the hall looked worried, looking between each other, trying to find answers.

Before another word was said, an inhuman cry echoed through the air, slicing through the silence like a warm knife through melting butter. It caused shivers to run up the spine, and hairs to stand on end.

Harry's eyes lit up like lanterns. "Uruks. . ." he whispered, but it carried as if he had yelled. Then he did yell. "To _Hell_ with the Dark!"

"RAWWWWWW!" Ron screamed, his eyes flashing with sudden life. He drew his sword, with a battle weary war cry.

Another inhuman screech tore through the silence, causing a few people to cringe from the pitch. Sounds of marching echoed in the castle, causing students to look around in fear and wonder.

Armored men, almost a hundred of them, appeared in the Entrance Hall from the Main Staircase. The stood at perfect attention, looking at Harry, waiting for orders.

"Necessity has no law. We're not fighting to kill. We're fighting to live. In order to do that, let's kill 'em all!" Harry yelled. He drew his sword, turned and charged out of the door. The armored men followed him, bellowing battle cry's.

Albus half stood from his chair, worried out of his mind. Minerva's eyes were wide, and she was gripping the arms of her chair with a vice grip. Severus looked as if he had been sucking lemons. Remus aged ten years in ten seconds.

Tense silence settled in the castle. The castle itself seemed to recognize the moment for what it was, and all, ALL sounds ceased. No creaking stairs, no slamming doors, no skittering of Mrs. Norris. No movement disturbed the unhealthy stillness in the air.

The sudden, violent sound of steel hitting steel jolted everyone out of thoughts. A scream of pain, like a banshee, made the room flinch as one. It wasn't human. The next scream was very human, but there was no pain. It was a challenge, and a warning.

"Prefects, lead your houses to your dormitories. Heads, go stay with your houses. No, Minerva, go," Albus ordered, seeing her argument in her eyes. He lowered his voice. "They need you."

She went.

Albus instructed Remus to call the Order in, if they weren't there already. He turned to Elrond and Gandalf, who were staying out of this fight.

"What is the bellowing?" Albus asked. Elrond cleared hi throat to answer.

"The Orcslayer is challenging his enemy. From the sound of it, five, maybe six hundred Orcs and Uruk's are out there. We have two, three hundred," Elrond said.

"Good odds," Gandalf added. Albus sighed.

"And these things absolutely can't be defeated with magic? The Killing Curse won't work?" Albus asked. Elrond sighed while Gandalf shook his head.

"It won't."

"Damn," Albus muttered.

The Order gathered. They sat at the found table in the Great Hall, awaiting the fate of their fellow members.

"The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!" They heard, screamed from the village.

"We don't need no water, let the mother fucker burn, burn mother fucker, **_buuuuuurn_**!" Was the bellowed reply. Gandalf rolled his eyes.

"Those two. . . so strange," the old man muttered.

"What was that?" Molly Weasley asked.

"That was Ron and Harry, trading battle plans from across the battle grounds. From what I have deciphered, Ronald was warning Harry that the Uruk's were utilizing fire. Harry replied that they could use it to there advantage. Uruk's, who have limited skills in the Common tongue anyway, have no idea how to decode this code. Ingenious, really," Gandalf supplied.

It was two hours, and several arguments later, that the battle ended. Ron walked in, limping slightly, and dripping in blood. Hermione squeaked. "You should see the other army," Ron said. "Mutilated beyond recognition. Harry is burning the corpses as we speak."

"Nothing like the smell of burning Orc flesh in the morning!" Harry said, walking up next to Ron. He looked worse of than his friend.

His breath came in rasps, his hair was coated with drying blood. His right eye was swollen closed, deep purple against his rather pale skin. Pale? It had been golden a few weeks ago. . .

Harry was limping worse than Ron. His left kneecap was gone. His shirt was torn to rags, falling from his broad shoulders. He had bruises, welts, and burns covering most of his body.

"Five hundred seventy two Orcs, Uruk's, and Death Eaters slaughtered, now burning. One dead Centaur, an injured Unicorn, three dead Goblin, fifteen injured, four injured Elves, none dead, no injured or dead humans. Amazingly resilient, we are," Harry said.

"What are you talking about?" Elrond asked. "You're as human as _I_ am. And there were only two Humans at the battle, on our side, by the way."

Aragorn, behind Ron, pointed to himself, Ron, then Harry, looking confused.

"You haven't decided yet, then?" he asked.

"Eh, no. not exactly. Don't give me that look, buddy. This is a very hard choice. Eternal life, or mortality? Man, you decide, okay?" Harry snapped. "I'm about to flip a coin, or something. Play rock, paper, scissors, maybe. Ask a Magic 8 Ball, because, damn it, I can't decide."

"You _haven't_ chosen mortality?" Ron bellowed. He stumbled slightly. "Have you cracked? Choose immortality, you brute!"

Harry rolled his eyes, and walked to the Hospital Wing.

* * *

Leejing was the 90th reviewer. But, I've made a mistake. Not an obvious one, since no one has pionted it out though. 

In chapter six, when Harry and Ron are talking to Galadriel, Ron said "But! He is dating my sister, so… Close enough" So, since the two are dating, and Leejing said no H/G. . .

**Leejing,** I ask you. Should Harry and Ginny break up? If so, who dumps who? Review, or PM me, with your answer, please.

Chha is pronounced _ch_-ah. This word has evolved, in my vocabulary, from yes, to yah, to chyes, to ches, to chha. It means either yes, or _HA_. Both work.

My reason for Harry's forced sobriety. You notice, that after the battle of Helms Deep, Harry got drunk and started singing. Well, he had not come into his powers as a Dark Elf yet. He was a Light Elf., who, in my little world, get drunk easily. Light Elves get wasted, Dark Elves don't. It works, people.

**298 days!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	12. Harry Doesn't Know That Ginny And Me

. . .Do I In His Dorm Every Sunday

I don't own Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Google stock. If I owned any of these three things, I'd be rich.

* * *

"_Eh, no. not exactly. Don't give me that look, buddy. This is a very hard choice. Eternal life, or mortality? Man, you decide, okay?" Harry snapped. "I'm about to flip a coin, or something. Play rock, paper, scissors, maybe. Ask a Magic 8 Ball, because, damn it, I can't decide." _

"_You haven't chosen mortality?" Ron bellowed. He stumbled slightly. "Have you cracked? Choose immortality, you brute!"_

* * *

Harry rolled his eyes and walked to the Hospital Wing. 

Madam Pomfrey nearly had a fit when she saw the state of the soldiers. Ron, who had been astoundingly quiet throughout the whole walk up to the Hospital Wing, suddenly spoke up, startling Harry.

"Two Humans? Were there like, a ton of Gondorians? Aren't they Human?" Ron asked. Harry rolled his eyes.

"They are 'Men'. Apparently, not the same thing. Must be politically correct at all times, Ronald!" Harry said, laughing. Ron rolled his eyes. Pomfrey was, by then, freaking out.

Harry found himself forced onto a bed, with nine potions forced down his throat in rapid succession. He coughed and sputtered, drawing a glare from Pomfrey.

"I didn't say anything!" Harry said, defending himself. vaguely

"Yes, well what happened to your kneecap, then? Did it tear itself from you body?" Pomfrey asked. Harry grinned at her.

"Actually, that's pretty close. I think it may have been a friendly fire arrow. It got caught in there, and it went foreword, peeling the kneecap right off," Harry said. Ron, in the next bed, yelped, as if in pain. "You alright, Ronnie?"

"Yes, but I have this absurd ghost pain in my kneecap, thanks to you!" Ron accused. Harry through a cocky grin at him.

A few hours later it was dark, and very, very quiet. Harry was awake, staring at the ceiling. Madam Pomfrey had explained that for one of the potions to work, Harry had to be awake and aware. He had no problem with that at all.

Sleep was not an issue for him at all. No sir-ee. Sleep was. . . Harry's head jerked as he woke himself from a slight doze.

"Shit. This'll be a long night. All I need is two hours of sleep, and I can't even get that. Shit, shit, shit!" Harry muttered. He heard a deep chuckle from next to him, causing him to nearly fall out of his bed. "Christ almighty!" A strong hand kept him from completely hitting the floor.

"Careful now, Harry. We wouldn't want you to re-injure your knee." Harry identified Dumbledore's voice.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Harry barked, quietly. Harry saw Dumbledore grin in a decidedly evil way.

"Now, Harry, I _could_ explain, but it would be much better for you to hear that from someone a little younger, maybe Remus. I'm sure you would feel decidedly uncomfortable-"

"Oh, shut up, old man!" Harry growled. "Pedophile, I swear!" Harry muttered.

"Well, you did ask," Dumbledore said. Harry growled.

"Did you need something, or do you get your kicks from staring at people a tenth of your age?" Harry asked. Dumbledore looked indignant.

"I'm only one hundred and _fifty_, Harry, _not_ seventy. That's twenty years you just tried to tack on," Dumbledore reprimanded. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Oh, well, _sorry_. Next time I'll look it up in the big book of people who were alive during the time of Julius Caesar," Harry said. Harry couldn't tell in the dim light, but he thought that Dumbledore was actually glaring at him. Harry just smiled. After a moment, Dumbledore smiled. "So, why are you here?"

"I heard you were not allowed to sleep tonight, so I decided to come talk. Or are you too busy dozing? I may have to report that to Madam Pomfrey, you know that, don't you?" Dumbledore asked.

"You wouldn't. I know you wouldn't. Because that would be cruel, and you're not a cruel person," Harry said. Dumbledore nodded.

"I'll keep it a secret. You're a valuable member of my teaching staff, and I don't need you being killed by another valuable member of my staff. So I've come to keep you awake. What do you want to talk about?" Dumbledore asked, leaning back in his chair to get comfortable. Harry sighed.

"You." Dumbledore started slightly.

"Excuse me?" Dumbledore asked. Harry grinned.

"You. Let's talk about you. I hate talking about me. I bore even myself. With a hundred and _fifty_ years, you must have something interesting to say. Say it," said Harry, shrugging. Dumbledore nodded.

"I. . . don't know what to say. Have you ever heard the story about the time I accidentally pushed the Headmaster down the stairs?" Harry sat up and leaned his back against the headrest.

"This I have to hear. Please continue."

They spent six hours discussing Dumbledore's school days.

"Hey. If I pushed my Headmaster down the stairs, think they would blame me?" Harry asked innocently. Dumbledore leaned foreword and flicked his ear. Harry winced and pouted at him. "Owie!" Harry whined. "That _hurt_!"

"Harry, that was the point. Elves have highly sensitive ears. I'm very glad I read that book last night," Dumbledore said.

"Hmph!" Harry said. Dumbledore smiled at him. Then he looked thoughtful.

"Call me Albus," he said. Harry stared at him for a moment.

"Excuse me?" Harry asked.

"Call me Albus. Albus is my name, Harry. It's not Dumbledore Dumbledore, you know. It's Albus Dumbledore, in case you didn't know. I am requesting that you call me by my first name," Dumbledore said. Harry continued to stare blankly. Dumbledore leaned foreword, sighing. "Harry, you have earned my respect by far. Far more than some people my own age have. You, more than anyone many, many people, are my equal. I think a first name basis is more than appropriate."

"Uh. . ." Harry said. Dumbledore smiled.

"Are you surprised that I called you my equal?" Dumbledore asked. Harry nodded. "Well, you are. You're more advanced than I was at your age, you're unbelievably powerful. Harry, I feel like I should be calling you 'sir'," Dumbledore said. Harry nodded, feeling like something very heavy had just smashed into his head.

"Um, thank you, sir-" Harry paused when Dumbledore smirked at him. "-Albus." Albus nodded. "That is so unbelievably strange."

"Harry, I'm going to guess that we have and hour before everyone in this room wakes up. I have a very serious proposition for you. I think that it would be acceptable if you were to. . . take your N.E.W.T.s now. I want you to be a full time professor and researcher for Hogwarts," said Albus.

"Please excuse me if I stop breathing now," said Harry. Albus' eyes widened. Harry smirked at him. "You're too easy. I have conditions. You have to offer the same opportunity to Ron and Hermione," Harry said. Albus nodded, smiling.

"I can do that. It is now Sunday morning. Is next Friday a good day for you to take the biggest exam of your life?" Albus asked.

"I could be ready in ten minutes, if Madam Nazi didn't have me in this bed for the next three days," Harry said. He spent a good thirty seconds glaring at afore mentioned Madam Nazi's door. Albus snapped his fingers in front of Harry's face. Harry jumped, and turned to look at Albus.

"I thought you had wondered off there, for a moment," Albus said. Harry smiled. "Do you want to get out of here?"

"As an answer, all I'll say is that I want to live to see my eighteenth birthday," Harry said. Albus nodded, and pulled out parchment and a quill. He scribbled a note, putting it on Harry's pillow. He waved his wand, changing Harry into normal clothes.

"Let's go. Come on. Hurry, up, Poppy wakes up at five o'clock every morning. We have three minutes to get you as far away from this wing as possible. Ready?" Albus asked. Harry nodded. He jumped out of the bed. Albus grabbed his shoulder and led him out of the wing.

"You do know that we are both going to be killed for this one, right?" Harry asked, as soon as they sat down in Albus' office. The light from the rising sun was pooling in from the window behind his desk, casting an orange glow around the room.

"I know. I think it will be a great discussion topic for breakfast, don't you?" Albus asked.

"I couldn't agree more. So, tell me, what is this big exam like? Pain, torture, death?" Harry asked.

"I found it quite simple, actually. I set the record for the fastest exam time in recorded history," Albus said.

"Now, see, it's not fair if they say that. I mean, you could only have taken, what? The second exam in recorded history? I'd think a lot of magic has been discovered since _then_," complained Harry.

"You're just full of these ones, aren't you?" Albus asked.

"Actually, yes, I am. You'd be amazed at how much time I have to think," Harry said. Albus nodded.

"Well, this means war, Harry. I've had a hundred years to come up with youth jokes. You can't win this one," Albus said.

"Oh, I think I can. I think you'll loose this one, old man. On to a lighter topic. The sky is very, very blue right now," Harry said, nodding out the window.

"You may be too young to fully understand, but the sky is very, very blue a lot of the time," Albus said, smiling. Harry shook his head.

"Just, no. Please tell me that wasn't your best?"

"No. I'm just warming up, Harry." Suddenly Albus walked around the desk and knelt in front of Harry. "You have a nasty cut above your left eye. Did you know that?"

"Ah. . . yeah. It started bleeding into my eye as I was slicing an Orc in half. That was counter productive," stated Harry.

Albus sat in the chair next to Harry, and ran a thumb across the half closed gash above Harry's eye. Harry watched the man's eyes narrow slightly, and his brow furrow ever so slightly.

"It looks like it may be infected. Did Poppy check it?" Albus asked.

"She did. She said it would be just fine. Nothing to worry about. Why?" Harry asked. Albus shook his head.

"Nothing important. So, how was the battle? I sat for two hours listening to it, now I want to hear about it," said Albus. Harry nodded.

"There I was, standing not ten

**0o0o0o0o0o0**

feet away from a thousand Orcs. "Holy shit." Harry arched his back backwards a little, and he heard five distinct cracks. He turned slightly to look at the men standing behind him, following him into battle. "The point of war is not to die for your cause. It's to make the other bastard die for his! No mercy!" Harry yelled. Ron bellowed, from next to him.

It was an empowering feeling, knowing you had three hundred men on your side, yet it was a huge responsibility. If any of these beings died, it was on his hands.

He was playing god with the lives of over a thousand people.

He ran foreword. He was in his zone. The first Uruk had fallen, at his feet, and Harry's adrenaline was pumping. Harry was in Hogsmeade, nearing the center. Death Eaters were burning buildings, and Harry was doing his best to put them out, while still fighting Orcs.

Something sliced his upper arm, and he felt the sticky warmth of blood running down his arm. It was colder outside than Harry had expected, and his fingers were already growing numb, the cold hilt of his sword wasn't helping much, either.

His sword crashed into the helmet of an Uruk, causing it to turn wildly, swinging its blade. It grazed Harry's neck. Something heavy and blunt slammed into the back of Harry's head, throwing him foreword. He collided with the Uruk, painfully. They landed in a heap on the dusty pathway.

What should have been a dignified and proper sword fight, turned into a fist fight. Anyone who saw it would have thought of ten year olds on a playground.

Harry found his opening, and he punched the Uruk with all his considerable strength. That gave him the chance to stab the beast. Harry rolled off of the thing, and took off running towards the nearest clump of Death Eaters.

Not the best strategy, but he went in, swinging his sword madly.

Something very sharp, very heavy, and very cold grazed his left eyebrow. Warm blood dripped into his left eye, right as he swung at a nearby Uruk. His blade went through the armor, through the rib cage, through the spine, and out the other side. The Uruk blinked a total of four times before the top half of the body toppled over, hitting the dirt.

Harry spun around, turning to see the terrified eyes of a death eater. The man couldn't have been older than twenty, and he looked ready to wet himself. Harry shook his head. He cast a wandless unbreakable stunner at the kid, rolling his eyes.

The battle went on for another ninety minutes. Harry looked down as he was burning corpses, and noticed he was missing a kneecap.

"Well, that's unfortunate. I have this strange feeling that that thing is very important," Harry said. "_Burn, baby, burn_." Harry poured more oil on the corpses, and the fire flared. His eyes

**0o0o0o0o0o0**

lit up just explaining the battle. Albus smiled as Harry explained every detail of the battle. Harry actually had an amazing ability to remember every detail, like most Elves did. Albus found himself very jealous in that moment.

When Harry was done, Albus sighed. "If only I were younger. . . Not one comment, Harry." Harry closed his mouth, looking put out. Albus checked the time. "Well, Harry, it is time for breakfast. Are you ready to face the music?"

"Right behind you."

"No. Right next to me," Albus said. Harry grinned at him.

Albus was surprised that Harry thought so little of himself. Most teenagers with Harry's power would consider themselves the center of the world. Harry, however, had spent twenty minutes glorifying every soldier in the field beside himself. He had even gone into detail about how good of a duel he'd had with a _very_ 'skilled' death eater.

Harry pushed the Great Hall door open, but then Albus was pushed foreword. "Harry. . .?" Albus looked up to see Poppy looking murderous.

"I have a very, very long life ahead of me. I mean, you've got a foot in the grave already. You see where I'm going with this? Between you and me, you're the obvious choice," Harry whispered. All the students who were eating breakfast were watching. Most were snickering, probably at the stricken look Albus knew he was wearing.

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore! How _dare_ you steal my patient out of my ward!?" Poppy yelled, advancing on him. Her eyes were glowing. "In the middle of the night!?"

"You see, Poppy, I had very important stuff I needed to discuss with your patient. It was. . . important. And as the Headmaster I have every right to steal your patient. So, that being said, I see no problem here. If you could clear the isle, I'd like to eat my breakfast," Albus said. He heard Harry laughing hysterically, yet quietly, behind him.

"I see a problem! I see a big problem! Potter is a patient, and needs to be treated!" Poppy snapped, still advancing. She was ten feet away now. Harry threw the doors all the way open.

"Actually, I'm right here, and I couldn't be in better health. Unless, of course, I had some sleep, and something to eat. I'm amazed. You deprive me of sleep, now you're trying to stop me from eating? Not exactly the traits of a person in your field, is it? Please excuse me, I'm hungry," Harry said, brushing past Poppy.

"I- I- Potter! You can't-"

"Just did. Live with it."

No matter how much Harry wrote off his accomplishments as luck, Albus saw Harry's courage. Nothing was luck, not with Harry. It was skill.

Harry sat himself down at the Gryffindor table, and piled a lot of food onto his plate. Ginny, who was across from him, was oddly silent. Hermione, however, was oddly chatty.

"So, I was reading that book you told us about. Some very interesting things in there. Did you know that-"

"Yes. I do. I read the book, Hermione. Three times. Have you read about the spell for peeling away each individual layer of skin?" Harry asked.

"Great topic for breakfast, Harry,'' Ginny muttered.

"I think so. It's amazing to think about. Depending on how much power you add, you can make the skin peel away so slow, the victim will be conscious until the third of fourth layer of skin," Harry said, enthusiastic. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Harry, that is so gross. That's disgusting," Ginny complained.

"No, you know what's disgusting?" Harry asked her. She stared at him blankly, her eyes seeming to widen for only a second. "I forgot to get my knee replaced. There is no kneecap there. It's just bandage. I'm not sure the bones are even connected," Harry said calmly. "That is not a happy feeling."

"That's sick," Ginny said.

"It is."

That afternoon, Harry dragged his two best friends up to Albus' office. He got to the gargoyle, and the damn thing wouldn't move. Harry rattled off every candy he could think of, muggle and magical. Fed up, Harry kicked it, and it moved.

They walked up the staircase, with Harry moving slowly because of his knee. The pain was getting worse as the day wore on.

"Come in," Albus called before they knocked. Harry opened the door, and limped in. He sat down, and glared at the old man. Albus conjured a chair for Ron, and all three of them were seated.

"You could have opened the damn gargoyle for me," Harry said. Albus smiled slightly.

"Ah, I could have. But it was so much more fun to hear you yell at an inanimate object and then kick it," Albus said happily. Harry glared at him. "Oh, don't look so put out. Have you explained anything to them?" Harry shook his head.

It took ten minutes to explain the NEWT plan, and then twenty to calm down Hermione. Albus seemed amused, while Ron looked ready to be sick. Hermione was frantic, speaking at a thousand words a second, while Harry laid his head against the back of the chair and closed his eyes.

It seemed like just a second later someone was shaking him.

"Harry? Harry?" Albus' voice called. Harry started, and he nearly punched Albus. Ron grabbed the older man, pulling him out of the way.

"That is it," Albus declared, "I'm splashing water on you next time."

"How long was I out?" Harry asked. He heard Ron laughing next to him.

" 'Out' doesn't even begin to cover it. We've let you sleep for twenty minutes, and it took us ten to wake you up." Harry shook his head. "You okay?"

"That was one crazy dream. I hope it was a dream. It better have been a dream," Harry stated. Albus looked concerned as he stood up straight.

"What happened?" he asked, a touch of urgency in his voice. Harry gave a bark like laugh.

"Michael Corner was banging Ginny. I was out of calming potion, and, I'm sure you could imagine the rest," Harry said. He shook his head once more, clearing the thought. "Is there an Order meeting tonight?" Harry asked.

"Yes, there is, Harry," Albus said. Harry nodded and stood up.

"Okay, I'll see you then," Harry limped out the door, and up to Gryffindor tower.

Albus was sitting in the Great Hall for the Order meeting. All of the Order was there, except for Harry and Ginny.

"This is happening a lot lately, Albus," Severus said coldly. Albus gave him a hard look, and his head snapped around when he heard a scream. Aragorn stood up, and walked across the room to open the door carefully. The screaming grew louder and louder until Michael Corner ran into the Great Hall.

Aragorn poked his head out the door, before slamming the door shut and running back to his seat. Michael was muttering incomprehensively, shaking in a ball on the ground. Hermione walked over and knelt next to him.

"Michael? Michael, are you alright?" she asked gently.

"Pissed him off. He's mad. He's going to kill me. Help me?" he pleaded. There was a bellowing scream of rage from just outside the Great Hall door. Michael began sobbing frantically as he scuttled away from the door.

A frighteningly familiar booming, roaring, thundering voice bellowed in a strange language. Something was pounding against the doors, causing the old wood to buckle. They would collapse within a minute.

Ron looked to his brothers, made a few motions, and said a couple of words. The all started glaring at Michael. Molly had overheard, and she turned on the young man, too. Albus got a bad feeling in his gut.

"What is he saying?" Aragorn asked Gandalf anxiously. The old wizard was listening intently.

" '_I'll kill you. They'll find your body under the red rising sun. Your soul is mine, and I'm going to send it to the very pits of hell, you cold blooded spawn of Saruman_.'. That's a new one. '_I'll paint the town with your blood while you writhe on the ground in pain_.' We may have to put an end to this," Gandalf said. He turned to Dumbledore. "Will you assist me?"

Albus agreed, and both men walked over to the large doors, just as an arm broke through it. It was a pale arm, with blue veins clearly visible. The arm had long, bony fingers. The arm and hand withdrew, but the hole was made bigger when the arm reentered right near the preexisting hole.

"What do we do?" Albus asked Gandalf.

"We calm him down," the other man said simply. "We need to get to the other side of the door, before he gets on this side." That task became even harder when the hole became even bigger, big enough for Harry to actually fit through. As he was climbing, Albus quickly opened the door, and both he and Gandalf slipped to the other side.

They pulled Harry back through the hole, after they closed the door. Albus held onto Harry with a vice grip.

"Alright, now what do we do?" Albus asked. Gandalf looked Harry over.

"Get him away from here, calm him down, and make sure he doesn't go anywhere until he gets a claming potion," Gandalf suggested. Albus carried away the struggling Harry, and he threw him in the nearest unused classroom. He closed and locked the door, and knelt next to Harry. The boy continued to struggle.

"Stop it, Harry," Albus ordered. Harry continued, and as it appeared to Albus, Harry began to try to attack him. "Harry James Potter!" Albus sternly said. "Stop!" Albus summoned a calming potion, and he forced Harry to drink it. It was another minute before Harry began to return to normal. He clutched his head as if in severe pain.

"Ahhhh," Harry hummed. Albus pulled him into an embrace.

"What happened, child?" Albus asked. Harry shook his head, and simply curled into a ball. It didn't work very well, though, because Albus still had a tight hold on him. "Harry, I need to know what happened," Albus insisted. He rubbed Harry's back, trying to keep Harry completely calm.

"Remember when I fell asleep in your office today?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yes, but- Oh. Harry, talk to me." Albus pulled Harry up, so he was sitting and facing him. "Tell me the whole story." Harry took a deep breath, not looking at Albus.

"Ginny and I started going out this summer. Eventually she wanted to take things further, but I wouldn't. She's fifteen, when I was sixteen, I was at the age of consent. She was only fifteen, and unable to legally consent. After I turned seventeen, her advances became more aggressive. Since I was seventeen, and her still fifteen, that's one hell of a rape charge, and I'd be in prison for the rest of ever," Harry said calmly. Albus took Harry's face in his hands.

"That was very responsible, Harry. You made the right choice. What you may not know, however, is that Mr. Corner turned seventeen four days ago," Albus said quietly. "This will, undoubtedly, be brought to court by the Weasley's. . ." Albus trailed off. "Oh, dear. I left Mr. Corner in the Great Hall, with all the Weasley men in attendance. We'll leave them there for a few more minutes, shall we?" Harry gave a small laugh, before grabbing his head.

"Ahh, that hurts," Harry said. Albus gave him a stern look.

"Which reminds me, Harry. Why didn't you take a calming potion? Didn't I ask you to keep one on you at all times?" Albus asked. Harry sighed.

"I'd already used it, earlier today," Harry said. "After Ron and I did some training. It got out of hand, and we ended up in a pretty good insult exchange. We split the potion. When we went upstairs, Ron snagged the shower first, so I waited in the dorm room, throwing stuff at the door until he came out. He went down to the meeting, and I got in the shower. When I came out, Michael and Ginny were doing it. . . on my bed, actually. They must have thought I already went down to the meeting," Harry said. Harry suddenly looked up at Albus, a strange look in his green eyes. "Could you just give me five minutes with him?" Harry asked hopefully. Albus looked at him over his glasses.

"And let you –what was it?- ah, 'paint the town with his blood'?" Albus asked. Harry opened his mouth to reply, but Albus cut him off. "No."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't even leave a mark!" Harry protested. "We could even modify his memory!" Albus rolled his eyes, and began getting up. Harry sprang to his feet, and helped Albus from the ground. "Must be hard," Harry said.

"What is that, Harry?" Albus asked him. The began walking to the door.

"Being so old, of course," the younger man answered. Albus lightly cuffed the back of his head.


End file.
